Jacobs Ladder - Lisa's Review

How do I even start to attempt to review this movie at 11pm on a Friday night.  If the following is a convoluted mess, I apologise profusely.

I have seen Jacobs ladder 4 times.  Twice in my much younger years and neither time did I understand it, then again about 5 years ago and I finally began to grasp what I interpreted from the movie.  I watched it for the fourth time this week in parts.  I read something in a movie review for Jacobs Ladder today, which probably sums the movie up very well.  It's like trying to decipher Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin lyrics, it's impossible, but you're stoned so you try to anyway, lol.

So let's kick it off with my viewpoint on the movie, I think this is an excellent movie and if anyone reading this hasn't watched he movie, they really should; and they should do it without some over zealous reviewer giving it all away, so I'll try not to give too much away.  To be fair it won't be for everyone.  If the type of movies you enjoy tend to be 'Rom Coms, Chick Flicks and Action movies', then I think giving this one a miss may be a good piece of advice.

The movie stars Tim Robbins, who was an unknown to me the first couple of times I watched Jacobs Ladder, but I've since seen him in quite a lot, most notably 'Shawshamk Remdemption' as Andy Dufrasne.  He stars as Vietnam Vet Jacob, who is having psychological problems after having been terribly injured in action and returning home.  He is struggling with the death of his young son Gabe in a traffic accident and the break-up of his marriage.  It is intimated that his happened before he left for Vietnam.  One thing I will say about the movie at this point is that it can be difficult to work out which interlocking story is the present day.  In one life we see Jacob in Vietnam, in another he is married with a son and in the third he is in a relationship with someone he works with after having returning home from the war.

My assumption was that he was married with a son who was tragically killed.  His marriage subsequently broke down and he went to war where he was injured and returned home to take a postal job and start a relationship with a colleague.  We are party to his flashbacks, both to his married life and to battle scenes.  He also begins to have horrific hallucinations, which start to make it very difficult to pick apart fact from fiction.

One of Jacobs comrades meet up with him to discuss the hallucinations he has also been having since the war.  Soon after he is killed in what appears to be a tragic accident.  At the funeral, Jacob meets up with more old comrades who also allude to having similar experiences.

From here we follow the disintegration of Jacobs sanity and the movie gets pretty trippy.  I will say though, the way the movie is shot and the soundtrack do convey the feeling of the movie and the complete unraveling of this mans sanity.

It seems there is more to his war experience than he was aware of.  It is in his discovery that the movie attains its name.

For me, this is a very intelligent, thought provoking movie that anyone who likes a bit more than the usual crap that Hollywood spit out should watch.  Hey, if you've seen it years ago, watch it again.  I learnt something new each time, or maybe with age my interpretation changed, who knows, but, either way, go watch this.  Highly Recommended.