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Jacob’s Ladder Movie Review

Jacob’s Ladder is a 1990 psychological horror film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Tim Robbins in the main role. It is a strange, influential movie.

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“See. According to this, you’re already dead“

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A postal worker is haunted by flashbacks to his earlier marriage, his torturous days of duty during the Vietnam War and his now-dead son. This film surprised me. I’d expected a full-on horror feature, but what I witnessed was a conspiracy thriller with horror, fantasy and war drama elements. It is an intriguing genre-bender that for the most part really works.

I don’t know why most people don’t realize this, but this movie clearly influenced ‘The Sixth Sense’ in its twist ending to the point that I regard that movie with less esteem. That twist made the movie somewhat fantastical, but still rooted in reality more than any other possible ending would be, which made for an emotionally powerful movie about life and death.

Tim Robbins was excellent in one of his first major roles. His performance perfectly captures the disorientation of the protagonist, but the issue here lied in the characterization as I did not care all that much for him given that he received very little development. Others fare even worse, though there are some clear highlights – Elizabeth Pena is memorable as the girlfriend while Danny Aiello was terrific as one of the most important side characters for the plot.

Jacob’s Ladder is also very much an arthouse movie. The cinematography is accomplished with a lot of striking imagery. The hospital sequence is easily the most horrific moment in a movie that is otherwise more of a thriller than a horror story. The war elements also worked and the movie’s treatment of the horrendous tactics by the US government when it comes to even their own soldiers is commendable and important.

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It’s a bit too long in its runtime. The movie would have been more engaging had it been a bit brisker and shorter, but still it’s the kind of film that depends on its twist ending and that final scene was incredible, thus rendering the movie a success. The score from Maurice Jarre is frequently quite moving and eerie.