Thoughts on Jagged Edge

 

via IMDB

"You still think I'm guilty? How can you defend me if you think I'm guilty?"
"It happens all the time. It's the way our legal system works."

I wonder if Glenn Close felt déjà vu filming the new ending to Fatal Attraction. She's still compelling, but Alex Forrest went from a force to be reckoned with to a mere predator that must be put down. A similar sudden loss of nuance happens in Jagged Edge, Glenn's last movie before Attraction. Once we know what Jack Forrester (Jeff Bridges) is capable of, it becomes how's Teddy Barnes (Glenn) going to handle him. Jack also takes his terror to an ex-lover's home. Unlike Alex, he doesn't even get to speak.

Teddy, a divorced ex-criminal lawyer, is offered a partnership if she defends newspaper editor Jack. He's accused of using a hunting knife to murder his heiress wife, who left him everything despite their estrangement. Teddy's up against her old boss, ethically challenged and politically motivated D.A. Krasny (Peter Coyote) and gets investigation from the constantly swearing Ransom (Robert Loggia), another person Krasny alienated. Teddy and Jack hook up, before the trial and after the acquittal. The morning after, Teddy discovers discredited Krasny was right. Jack not only committed the murder, he executed an elaborate scheme to frame the tennis pro (Marshall Colt) who was sleeping with his wife. 

Directed by Richard Marquand, with a script by Joe Eszterhas, Edge isn't worthy of a rewatch. It's not even worthy of a first viewing. I knew the twist coming in and was curious if I could at least enjoy the dangerous romance between Teddy and Jack and/or the courtroom maneuvering. Krasny is so vile, I suspect the filmmakers wanted audiences to think he must have done it. Maybe he was the killer in an earlier draft. Anyway, I was amused that Edge's first 10 minutes almost exclusively belong to Coyote.

"You really think he could have done that to his own wife?"

"What the hell is 'that,' Al, you murder your wife to take all the money? 'That' is the oldest crime in the world. Only you're real smart ... so you make it look like some fucking Charlie Manson did it. You want people to say, 'Jesus, you think he could've done that to his own wife?' ... If I was gonna kill my wife, that's the way I'd do it."

Bridges was at his most fuckable during this period, but I didn't see much chemistry with Close. She's better opposite Coyote and Loggia. Close and Bridges don't give bad performances in Edge, but a better movie would turn a minus into a plus. Maybe Teddy should have resisted Jack right up until after the trial. Alas, she didn't and Eszterhas decides to have two trials. Not only is Teddy defending Jack for murder, she (on the audience's behalf) is also trying him for conduct as a lover. Ginny (Leigh Taylor-Young), a would-be fling, is easy to write off. Eileen (Diane Erickson), Jack's ex-mistress, isn't. 

"Violent crime against women is not entertainment," began Rita Kempley's review. She found Edge to be "commercially packaged abuse." While the onscreen mayhem is kept to a minimum, there's the matter of Krasny's little speech. For heaven's sake, he rests his head in the palms of his hands at the end! We also can't forget Julie Jenson (Karen Austin) sharing the assault she received from Jack, which he fatally repeated with Paige. Julie had the knife kept to her throat while she was tied to her bed. The knife was then used to cut open her nightgown and cut around her right nipple. This drew blood used to spell the world "bitch." After that, the knife went between her legs. Gee, what could that be similar to?

The movie's secret weapon is Loggia, who goes to town playing Ransom. It's like he was the only one realizing the movie's a tawdry thriller. If Edge's story elements aren't offensive, its lack of style is.

"So, what do you think?"

"What the fuck do I know?"

"Did your mother ever wash your mouth out with soap and water?"

"Yeah, but it didn't do any fucking good."

Not Recommended.

Thoughts:

-- "You're a very pretty lady. ... Now she thinks, 'Maybe he did do it. It sounds like he's coming on to me.'" "You like to play games, don't you?" "Racquetball. I play every day." "I used to play, years ago." "We should play. You look like you're still in shape." "I don't play games with my clients." "Yeah, you do."

-- Box Office: Grossing nearly $40.5 million on a $15 million budget, this opened at No. 2 (behind Commando) and came in at No. 22 for 1985.

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "There's no surprise to the surprise ending ... the movie stinks of red herrings," Paul Attanasio wrote. Of all people, Pauline Kael found the script "smart, pared down and efficient."

-- Critic's Corner, the leads: Pauline also liked Glenn and Jeff. "Good thrillers have an electric current running through them; here it runs through her performance, and then charges the film's last section," Kael wrote. She found Bridges' work to be some of his best. "For the first time in his career, he doesn't look boyish," according to David Denby. "(Close) gives her best movie performance so far."

-- Awards Watch: Loggia scored the movie's only Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. It was also an Edgar nominee, losing to Witness. Brandon Call, as Teddy's son David, was a Young Artist Award nominee. He lost to Fred Savage for The Boy Who Could Fly.

-- Great Moments in Shilling: David's bedroom includes posters for Ghostbusters (Columbia Pictures' last big hit) and Return of the Jedi (also directed by Richard Marquand).

-- Hey, It's ...!: Lance Henriksen, James Karen and Michael Dorn

-- "Fuck him. He was trash."

-- Next: After Hours. On deck: Silver Bullet, Re-Animator. Coming soon: Dreamchild, Sweet Dreams.