Film Review: Jagged Edge (1985)

Basic Instinct was one of the most popular and influential films of its time, but it also had its share of very loud detractors among critics. Everything that was wrong about the film was attributed to script by Joe Eszterhas who, ironically, had been one of the rare big Hollywood players to have career built on the account of screenwriting abilities. Eszterhas’ script was accused of misogyny, explicit violence, exploitative treatment of sexuality and general sleaze, which is accusation that can be, to certain degree, used against his earlier work that had been greeted much more favourably by the critics. It was script by Jagged Edge, 1985 courtroom thriller that could be, in many ways, seen as some sort of trial run for Basic Instinct.

Just like Basic Instinct, this film is set in San Francisco and begins with the scene of gruesome murder. Newspaper empire heiress Paige Forrester (played by Maria Mayenzet) in her bedroom falls victim to masked intruder armed with serrated hunting knife. High profile criminal investigation becomes even more sensational when weak alibi and circumstantial evidence point towards newspaper publisher and her husband Jack Forrester (played by Jeff Bridges) as the most likely suspect. Ruthless and politically ambitious prosecutor Tom Krasny (played by Peter Coyote) has Jack, who has inherited all of the wife’s wealth which would have been lost in case of divorce, arrested and indicted for murder. Jack decides on somewhat unusual pick for his defence attorney. It is Teddy Barnes (played by Glenn Close), divorced mother and former prosecutor who used to be part of Krasny’s team. Reluctant at first, she ultimately agrees to represent him and begins to prepare his case. Her work gets complicated due to series of surprise discoveries, but even more when she starts romantic relationship with Jack while at the same time receiving anonymous tips pointing towards his innocence.

Jagged Edge received not only good reviews, but also had very good box office results, starting a trend of courtroom thrillers that would last in Hollywood for next decade or so. Inevitable comparisons between it and Basic Instinct, however, point to latter film being much better. Eszterhas’ script is again very weak and deliberately leaves the question of killer suspect’s guilt or innocence unanswered until the unconvincing and predictably violent finale. The acting is solid, but, again, worse than in Basic Instinct. Glenn Close does what she can with at time thankless role of a supposedly talented professional who, just like Michael Douglas’ character seven years later, makes grave ethical error. Her character having intelligent children and her divorce being portrayed as friendly is, however, somewhat refreshing compared with similar cliches. Jeff Bridges, on the other hand, is quite bland and reduced to pretty face, far from seductive malevolence of Sharon Stone. He doesn’t have required chemistry with Close. Film is in many ways carried on the shoulders of supporting cast. Peter Coyote is great as slimy prosecutor who does unethical things very much like those Kamala Harris did during her career as prosecutor. But the best role goes to Robert Loggia as Teddy’s old friend and investigator with tendency to use profanities as much as possible. That foul language in many ways bring refreshing dose of real life that much of Eszterhas’ manipulative script lacked. Loggia, quite deservingly, earned Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and he is the reason why Jagged Edge might be recommended even to those viewers who don’t care much about 1980s courtroom thrillers.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/12235-jagged-edge
Critic: AA