Review of Jacob's Ladder (1990) by Tomislav A — 30 Mar 2010

As my schledule is very busy lately, with the college classes very often, I have watched Jacob's Ladder partially three nights in a row. First night I didn't get to see much as I fell asleep after only first ten minutes or so. The second night I was also exhausted but I managed to see a little more than just a half of the movie and when I turned it off it was the worst night of sleeping I had in a long long time. It's not just about this movie being scary as a horror, it is also frightening because it deals with the themes of what is reality and what is not. I had a lot of trouble that night deciding what am I dreaming and what is real. Truly disturbing. But I had that kind of side effects maybe because I haven't gotten to see the end of the movie as it explains what actually happens. Even when seeing the end, some will not understand this piece of work entirely as it is one of the top WTF stories I have ever seen. At least good ones.

Tim Robbins is definately one of my favourite actors and after seeing him in Shawshank I had to see some more of his lead roles. Here, he was maybe even better than ever. I give a lot of credit to actors that are simply born with an interesting (not that attractive or pretty like most stars) face expression like Buscemi or Perlman, and Robbins is definately among them. And not only that, he has some skills. At first I actually had the feeling Jacob has a normal life with a bit suffering from the past, but as the agony spread, his character dived into that agony showing all kinds of emotions on the surface.

As I said, the story is taking you on all kinds of confusing trips through Jacob's head and I wont be giving much away. Jacob is a Vietnam veteran and after the war he seems to be having a whole new life, but he still has painful memories of his family that he left behind. Later on we find out that things are not what they seem to be. Interesting, at least to say.

If you like real suspense, something that could possibly be haunting your dreams while not being so scary at the moment of watching, then it is a real thing for you. The women on the train had maybe the scariest face expression I have ever seen in a movie. It was truly disturbing and inexplicable. If nothing, you have a lead performance to behold and enjoy but I still think most of the viewers will find this interesting.