Jacob's Ladder is one of those movies that likes to crawl inside your head and stay for awhile. On the surface, this movie seems fairly straightforward - it is the story about a man who is slowly going to pieces while trying to deal with his war experiences, the death of his son and and a nagging paranoia that he is the victim of some grand conspiracy. Given the solid performances by all the cast, the superb directing and cinematography that perfectly captures the tone of each scene, this movie could have stayed on that level and held its own. But it is much, much more. It's beneath the surface of this movie where things get really interesting. Underscoring all of the above plot points is something dark and sinister. There is something horrifying going on in this film and its implications are disturbing and intensely thought-provoking.

Without giving away too much of the plot, the story requires Jacob (Tim Robbins) to thoroughly re-examine what he thought happened to him back in Vietnam, but more importantly, he must also try to come to terms with what exactly has (or has not) happened to him since. As Jacob struggles to define the reality of the world he appears to live in, he is not only driven right up to the edge, but fairly well shoved off the cliff of sanity.

Portions of the story are told through hallucinations and flashbacks. The hallucinations start out bizarre and only get more unsettling as the film progresses. The flashbacks, while revealing key plot elements, tend to only raise more questions than they answer. Both storytelling techniques have a history of coming across as forced in lesser films. Here, they blend seemlessly with the story to help define Jacob's mental state and draw us into his insanity. As this movie progresses, we aren't so much watching what happens to Jacob as we are experiencing it.

Director Adrian Lyne never faulters in the creation of the unsettling mood of the film. He also inspires all of the main and supporting actors to wonderful performances. Consider, for instance, Elizabeth Pina (playing Jezzie, Jacob's girlfriend). On the one hand, she cares deeply for Jacob and wants to help him. But on the other, she may just be a part of the paranoia and insanity he is experiencing. Her performance is so spot on that, like Jacob, we never are really sure of her motivations of intentions. Also of note is Danny Aiello, who plays Jacob's torturous chiropractor, who's "adjustments" may be the key to unlocking the truth from Jacob's mind.

By the time my first viewing of this film was over, I felt very uncomfortable, confused and agitated and I believe this is exactly the state the creators of this film wanted me in. This isn't a movie to make you feel good about life. I found my head spinning with thousands of questions and many different interpretations of what really went on. This is an excellent movie to watch with a group and then discuss - though it will no doubt be the cause of a few arguments about what it was really all about. After several viewings, I have reached my own opinion of what really happened (which I may share on this site sometime in the future). The final interpretation of the events of the film is secondary, however. The bottom line is that this movie succeeds on every level of its design. I highly recommend it, not only as a movie to watch once, but as one worthy of experiencing several times.