JACOB'S LADDER is a brilliant film. It is one that is consistently riveting and contains an ending that is perfect. The film stars the innately likeable Tim Robbins as Jake Singer. He's a Vietnam veteran who experienced a particularly hazy near-death experience, and who lives in a quasi-hell of fate's making. We gather through flashbacks that something funny happened in Vietnam, and that even Jake doesn't know what exactly that is. His circle of close friends, including a chiropractor and a post-office worker girlfriend, continually support Jake, but his Vietnam baggage is heavy, and he consistently falters. We also gather from flashbacks that Jake once had a loving family: a beautiful wife and three glowing sons. Now, however, Jake lives in a shoddy apartment, works a bad job, and sees demons all around him that are trying to kill him. He sinks into insanity: slowly. This is a testament to the films worth. At no single point is it apparent that Jake has lost his mind, but the gradual descent becomes clearer and clearer. The plot also does this, as we learn more about what may have happened to Vietnam, and what happened to the happier also post-Vietnam times. There is a craft in the film that is admirable, but also an intelligence about the created situation. Jake's descent is never nonsensical, but rooted in a specific statement about Jake Singer's condition. There is a statement within about the worthlessness of a stupid war, a statement about perseverance, and even a critical one of the government. What JACOB'S LADDER achieves is a sad dignity within a proclaimed horror film. It is not only good at getting this point across, but at creating an aura of horror, paranoia, and finally entertainment.
Jacob's Ladder: ★★★★
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