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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Jacket (2005)

The Jacket (2005)

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Released 4-Jan-2006
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Introduction Menu Audio Scene Selection Anim & Audio Featurette-The Jacket: Project History And Deleted Scenes Featurette-The Look Of The Jacket Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	98:39
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (78:19)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	John Maybury
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Adrien Brody Keira Knightley Kris Kristofferson Jennifer Jason Leigh Kelly Lynch Brad Renfro Daniel Craig Steven Mackintosh Brendan Coyle Mackenzie Phillips Laura Marano Jason Lewis Richard Dillane
Case	?	Starring
RPI	$39.95	Music	Brian Eno

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

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Plot Synopsis

Twenty seven-year-old Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) is serving in Iraq during the first Gulf War when he sustains what appears to be a fatal head wound. After he is pronounced dead a nurse notices his eyes moving and calls for a doctor. Jack eventually recovers, though he suffers from amnesia and psychological suppression.

Twelve months later Jack is walking along an isolated road where he stops to help an intoxicated woman, Jean (Kelly Lynch), and her daughter Jackie (Laura Marano) get their car started. Later that same day Jack is accused of murdering a police officer, but he has no recollection of the events of that day, apart from his chance meeting with Jean and Jackie. On the basis that his head trauma has damaged his mind Jack is found not guilty of murder and is committed to Alpine Grove Psychiatric Hospital, an institute for the criminally insane.

Whilst at Alpine Grove, Jack falls under the care of Dr Becker (Kris Kristofferson) who is conducting unethical experiments by administering mind-altering drugs to the inmates. Once drugged and restrained in a straight-jacket, the inmates are subjected to sensory deprivation by being locked in the morgue drawers. This is where Jack spends most of the movie while the story unfolds through his drug induced flashbacks and his visions of the future, in the year 2007.

A now adult Jackie (Keira Knightley) features prominently in Jack's visions as he desperately tries to understand what is happening to his mind. Has Jack lost touch with reality, or does he truly posses the ability to foresee the future events of his life?

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Transfer Quality

Video

The quality of the video transfer is very good.

The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced. The video is also encoded with Auto Pan & Scan information which produces an image with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.

The image is sharp and contains good shadow detail. There are many dark scenes and unfortunately the blacks sometimes come across as less than black. For example, when Jack descends the stairs at 12:26 and inside the morgue drawer at 50:30.

The colour palette is generally subdued as the outdoor settings are dominated by snow and a run down psychiatric hospital is the main interior set. Skin tones look natural.

MPEG artefacts are kept to an absolute minimum. I did not notice any aliasing and film artefacts are non-existent.

The only subtitle stream available is English for the Hearing Impaired. It is well placed, easy to read and accurately reflects the spoken word.

This is an RSDL disc with the layer change occurring at 78:19. The layer change is mildly disruptive.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The quality of the audio transfer was excellent.

This disc comes with a single English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track.

The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times. Unfortunately the audio sync is out by a touch during some scenes.

The musical score by Brian Eno is both haunting and upbeat. It provides the right tempo throughout the movie and is one of the stand-out features of this audio track.

The soundtrack is very loud and packs quite a punch. Although much of the movie is dialogue driven the surround channels are used extensively during the action sequences, particularly the mind treatment scenes.

This is a very loud soundtrack and it is obvious that the subwoofer has a lot of work to do.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Although there are few extras available on the disc, they do at least represent quality and the disc hasn’t been stuffed full of garbage for the sake of it.

The Jacket: Project History And Deleted Scenes (28:15)

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) audio track. The quality of the video transfer is generally good, though the deleted scenes are a little soft.

Director John Maybury and screenwriter Massy Tadjedin discuss the history behind the movie and lead the discussion on each of the deleted scenes. An interesting approach has been taken, with the deleted scenes being folded into this featurette rather than being listed separately. This is a great way of allowing the cast and crew to comment on the various reasons why each of the deleted scenes became deleted. Included are nine deleted scenes, three alternate endings and an alternate love scene.

The Look Of The Jacket (9:02)

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced, and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) audio track. Director John Maybury talks about the origins of his ideas for the look and feel of the movie. Vision effects supervisor Frazer Churchill and art department assistant Rhian Nicholas talk about the techniques used to create the end credits and the tunnel (mind treatment) sequences.

Theatrical Trailer (2:19)

This high quality theatrical trailer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced. It is accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) audio track.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

The Region 4 version of the disc misses out on;

French Dolby Digital 5.1
French and Spanish Subtitles

The Region 1 version of the disc misses out on;

Auto Pan & Scan

The Region 4 version is preferred unless the foreign language support is important to you.

Summary

The Jacket is well acted and despite the fact that the plot unfolds a little slowly, I found it to be quite enjoyable. If you enjoyed The Butterfly Effect then you should enjoy The Jacket.