Jacob's Ladder (Lyne, 1990): ICA Cinema, 7pm
Chicago Reader review:
A bold, powerful psychological horror film (1990) about a recently
returned Vietnam vet (Tim Robbins) in New York City, plagued by
nightmarish visions he doesn't understand. Thanks to a remarkable script
by Bruce Joel Rubin and the directorial skills of Adrian Lyne (whose
infernal vision of New York is even more effective here than in Fatal Attraction),
this works as both a highly effective stream-of-consciousness puzzle
thriller offering the viewer not one but many “solutions” and an
emotionally persuasive statement about the plight of many American vets
who fought in Vietnam. The surprises, ambiguities, and many shifting
levels of reality and consciousness sometimes recall The Manchurian Candidate,
albeit without that film's ironic sensibility. Robbins fully meets the
unusual demands of his part, and Elizabeth Peña and Danny Aiello are
equally impressive.
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