The Jacket represents an interesting quandary. How does a film this intriguing come off as so light and sweet?
Certainly, a more sinister direction could have been taken with the story, but the plot moved along in a more softer direction. I will state this: it was a pretty well made movie and had solid acting performances. But it just didn't go far enough. Instead of providing a dark end to Jack Stark, it chose to have him ending his life to the backdrop of sweet guitar rifts and a ride from a radiant Keira Knightly.
What I did especially like was the potential. The potential for Jack to mess with the future in adverse ways or Jack finding a way to go back in time would have made the story far more interesting. Perhaps getting rid of Knightly's arc all together would have been a benefit to the story.
Either way, The Jacket isn't a bad movie watching experience. It does a good job of creating sympathy for its characters even though they might not necessarily deserve it. Sadly, it just didn't push the envelope enough.
Certainly, a more sinister direction could have been taken with the story, but the plot moved along in a more softer direction. I will state this: it was a pretty well made movie and had solid acting performances. But it just didn't go far enough. Instead of providing a dark end to Jack Stark, it chose to have him ending his life to the backdrop of sweet guitar rifts and a ride from a radiant Keira Knightly.
What I did especially like was the potential. The potential for Jack to mess with the future in adverse ways or Jack finding a way to go back in time would have made the story far more interesting. Perhaps getting rid of Knightly's arc all together would have been a benefit to the story.
Either way, The Jacket isn't a bad movie watching experience. It does a good job of creating sympathy for its characters even though they might not necessarily deserve it. Sadly, it just didn't push the envelope enough.