Jacob's Ladder

The most frightening thing about Jacob Singer's nightmare is that he isn't dreaming

JACOB'S LADDER (18)

D: Adrian Lyne

Tri-Star/Carolco (Alan Marshall)

US 1990

113 mins

Thriller/Horror

W: Bruce Joel Rubin

DP: Jeffrey L. Kimball

Ed: Tom Rolf

Mus: Maurice Jarre

PD: Brian Morris

Tim Robbins (Jacob Singer), Elizabeth Peña (Jezzie), Danny Aiello (Louis), Matt Craven (Michael), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Paul), Jason Alexander (Geary)

*SPOILERS*

Tim Robbins plays postal worker Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran mourning his dead son and experiencing nightmarish hallucinations and surreal flashbacks of his time in the war, his previous marriage and other haunting memories. He consequently discovers he was the subject of secret experiments with chemical weapons during his time of duty.

Jacob's Ladder is a complex psychological mystery with an incredibly clever, unpredictable twist. Tim Robbins delivers an excellent performance and the story is very well written. Not a film for all audiences, but fans of 'Altered States' and 'Donnie Darko' (both of which have variants on a similar plot device) would rate it highly.

7/10