Jacob’s Ladder (1990) Film Review

I sat down on a Friday night to watch what I thought from memory, was an agreeable mash up of Platoon and The Sixth Sense. I was wrong, and immediately regretted my choice. It was closer to a mash up of Requiem For a Dream and Uncut Gems. The film from my youth was far more unrelentingly intense, harrowing and depressing than I'd remembered. It was also far more profound, beautiful, moving and unusual than it's ever given credit for. Tim Robbins stars as a man driven to psychosis by his post Vietnam waking nightmare, in director Adrian Lyne's hugely influential yet still underappreciated near masterpiece. Be warned though - this is an unexpectedly tough ride.