I do admire what director David Morgan goes for with a short black comedy about a small prank that leads in to a humongous shit storm of catastrophe and death, because I do tend to enjoy films like “Very Bad Things” that are about people with endlessly bad luck all because of one simple mistake. As far as premises go, “Adam’s Jacket” can be enticing, it’s just sad that it’s not very watchable.
Writer Morgan is so obsessed with inventing this quasi-mumblecore atmosphere with his actors talking non-stop, rapid fire, and in overlapping sentences that the film can be mind numbing. I’m not totally against the concept of mumblecore only when it’s done right, and “Adam’s Jacket” doesn’t make much of an argument for it here with a host of male characters who are utterly irritating to watch. After a prank on his ex to retrieve his jacket, Adam and his friends flee a club and attempt a getaway. And then hit a woman with their car.
The next ten minutes is devoted to a lot of dialogue that goes nowhere, and a shooting style so murky and dark that I simply had no idea what was happening on screen eighty percent of the time. As for the final twist in the closer, while it is an interesting look at a person who may not have the best of luck. Stupid people like these do exist, I just simply didn’t buy that something like that could happen twice in a row. While not the worst use of mumblecore I’ve ever seen, “Adam’s Jacket” is a short dark comedy that suffers from an unfocused narrative, sub-par irritating performances, and a plot that really goes nowhere.