Directed by: Adrian Lyne
Starring: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello, Jason Alexander, Matt Craven
Jacob's Ladder defies description in the best way possible. Reality and hallucinations are blurred seamlessly, so we never quite know what's real. One thing is for sure: If there is a Hell, Jacob Singer is living in it.
Jacob Singer (Robbins) is a Vietnam soldier wounded in battle during a confusing raid. Was it friendly fire, the enemy, or something even more sinister? We then move to after the war, in which Jacob earns a doctorate but works at the post office. He lives with Jezzie (Pena), a fellow postal worker, but has an ex-wife and children, including one child who passed away. Any semblance of normalcy is quickly eroded as Jacob is assaulted by frightening visions. Are these real or hallucinations? He tracks down some former platoon mates who experience the same horrors. They believe they were part of a government experiment during Vietnam and seek an overworked lawyer (Alexander) to represent them. The case falls apart and Jacob is further tormented when another friend is blown up in a car explosion.
Why Jacob's Ladder is such a chilling experience is because it doesn't take the easy way out. There may be a simple explanation for all of this, or is something darker and deeper going on? Jacob's Ladder suggests both or neither, yet it doesn't cheat. When all is seemingly revealed, you realize the answers were there all along if we weren't too terrified to look or listen to the signs. Robbins is the picture of ordinariness and deep wounds which makes him all the more sympathetic when this starts happening to him. Pena is a caring lover, or is she part of something grander? Danny Aiello appears as a chiropractor who may be more than that as he dispenses otherworldly wisdom. You may never experience more jolting neck manipulations on screen like this again.
Because the movie doesn't try to explain what's happening in a simplistic way, it builds suspense and fear. We don't want the worst to happen to Jacob, but we aren't able to control that. You know all of this apparent supernatural activity will lead to something and when it does, I couldn't help but notice a slight grin on Jacob's face. After all he goes through, he's earned it.
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