There’s this new movie, “The Jacket,” starring Adrien Brody, and I’m
noticing certain similarities to Jack London’s novel THE STAR ROVER.

The premise of “The Jacket,” as I understand it, is that you have a guy
who’s convicted of a murder, then imprisoned (in a hospital for the
criminally insane). During his imprisonment he is strait-jacketed and
suffers the extreme sensory deprivation of being locked in a morgue drawer.
This experience gives him the ability to see the future — apparently
his own future. (No spoilers here — I’m taking this all from the trailer.)

Now, THE STAR ROVER (available online here) is about a guy who’s convicted of a murder, sent to San
Quentin, and put into solitary confinement there. He’s often strait-
jacketed. This guy finds that this experience enables him to visit his
past lives.

Obviously the two time-travelling storylines are not identical — still, the similarities make
me wonder if the moviemakers are familiar with the London book. If so, it would be a nice example of how a work in the public domain can inspire present-day creativity.

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