Jackson Booth-Millard
The formula of Basic Instinct, hero or heroine falling for the murder suspect, has been reworked many times, so it is easy to forget that it was first established in this film, it was both the title and the leading stars that attracted me to watch it, directed by Richard Marquand (Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi). Basically in San Francisco, socialite and heiress Paige Forrester (Maria Mayenzet) is brutally murdered, with a butcher knife, with a jagged edge, at her beach house by a male intruder in a black mask, he writes the word "bitch" with her blood on the wall. Her husband Jack Forrester (Jeff Bridges) is devastated by the crime, but soon finds himself accused of murder, he is arrested by district attorney Thomas Krasny (Peter Coyote). Jack tries to hire high-profile lawyer Teddy Barnes (Glenn Close) to defend him, she used to work for Krasny, but after an incident with him she stopped in criminal law, Barnes is reluctant to take the case. Krasny runs into Barnes, she distressed to find out Harry Styles has hanged himself in prison, then Barnes visits private detective Sam Ransom (Oscar nominated Robert Loggia), he stopped private investigations at the same time she left Krasny's office, it is clear the Styles case is the reason, Barnes agrees to take the Forrester case. Preparing for the trial, Barnes and Forrester spend a great deal of time together, they eventually sleep together, Ransom warns Barnes that Forrester is just trying to make her care more about his case. Barnes' office begins receiving anonymous typed letters that mention things about the case, it is noticeable that all the letter T's are slightly raised, and it is clear that they were written on 1942 Corona typewriter. In a pre-trial meeting, Barnes tells the judge that Krasny has a history of not meeting his discovery obligations, the prosecution's case relies mainly on circumstantial evidence. Witness Virginia "Ginny" Howell (Leigh Taylor-Young) testifies that Paige told her she was divorcing Jack, but Barnes show a love letter that discredits her, suggesting Paige ended all communication with her, and that her advances towards Jack were rejected. The next witness, private club locker-room attendant Anthony Fabrizi (Louis Giambalvo), is discredited after he claims to have seen a hunting knife in Forrester's locker, when he admits that the knife was another member's locker. Eileen Avery (Diane Erickson) had an affair with Forrester, Krasny calls her to the stand, as Avery details her relationship with Forrester, Barnes finds it eerily similar to her own relationship. Barnes feels manipulated by Forrester, and believes him to be guilty, but she agrees to continue out of sense of duty, then her office receives another letter, it suggests asking Julie Jensen to testify. In court, Jensen testifies that she was attacked in the same manner as Paige Forrester, all details match, but the attacker stopped himself from killing her, Krasny objects that this attack is unrelated, but lets it slip that his office had investigated the attack and not revealed it in discovery. In chambers, Judge Carrigan (John Dehner) threatens to have Krasny disbarred, Krasny insists Forrester staged the earlier attack as a sort of alibi, which he had planned for 18 months, Krasny also insists Forrester has been sending the anonymous notes to Barnes. The trial ends, the jury find Forrester not guilty of murder, after this Barnes talks to the press about the Henry Styles case, with Krasny suppressing evidence that proved his innocence, Krasny walks off in disgust. Barnes goes to Forrester's house to celebrate, her negative feelings towards Jack have passed, they sleep together again. In the morning, Barnes discovers a typewriter in Jack's closet, she is shaken to test it and discover the "T" is raised when typing, just as in the anonymous notes, she hides the typewriter in some clothes and flees with it, pretending to Forrester that her child is sick. When Forrester calls Barnes, she tells him that she found the typewriter, he says he is baffled and that is coming over, Barnes calls Ransom, on the brink of telling him that Forrester is a killer, but instead she hangs up. Then a masked figure appears, breaking in and confronting Barnes in the bedroom, he starts to attack her, but she grabs a gun from under the bed covers, she shoots the attacker several times until he falls to the floor, Ransom arrives and unmasks the intruder: it is Forrester. Also starring Lance Henriksen as Frank Martin, Marshall Colt as Bobby Slade, Phyllis Applegate as Mrs. Stiles, William Allen Young as Greg Arnold, Ben Hammer as Dr. Goldman and Star Trek: The Next Generation's Michael Dorn as Dan Hislan. Close does well as the attorney haunted by the memory of a case gone wrong, Bridges is reasonable as the suspicious but charming client, and Loggia gets his moments as the foul-mouthed expert support, I can sort of see why he was award nominated. The opening murder, and the ending with the murderer reveal are the most exciting bits, the relationship between the man on trial and his lawyer is alright, and the courtroom scenes are engaging, all over it is a compelling enough thriller. Good!
Knox Morris
Early morning. It's still dark. Rain plummets outside. The remains of a violent murder lay untouched. Detectives walk in and out of the building with coffee. This is the daily grind.This is the kind of atmosphere established in the first five minutes of Jagged Edge, a movie with a screenplay built like a thriller, textured like a noir, and laced with eroticism. For these reasons the movie is usually criticized as "manipulative," but this is actually why the movie works so well. No, as a critic I hate manipulative movies but if by the end I've realized that I MYSELF have been manipulated, even I know I have just seen a good (sometimes great) movie. We go to the cinema to laugh, cry, smile, and be sucked in the whole time. This is why Jagged Edge works. And no, this movie is not just about that. In fact, its more authentically perfect facet is in it's performances. Jeff Bridges underplays his character with such precision that throughout the movie you can't tell if he's a tortured soul or happy bastard, and this is all by his facial expressions. Glenn Close is just as excellent; she remains so perfectly womanly but her presence is like dynamite in a gasoline tank. She's conflicted & melancholy, despite not having much to be conflicted about, except the fact that returning to her job as a lawyer causes an emotional uplift in her life. One of the best scenes in the film is when the Bridges character storms out of his widow's room, and the camera lingers on Close for longer than usual. The sound of the rain cancels out everything. This is the personification of sadness. The director, Richard Marquand, knew that the sound would enhance the moment, but I doubt anyone knew how allegorical it is. Highly recommended for people who have ever thought about wanting to see a courtroom-drama remake of Body Heat directed by Brian De Palma. Be on the lookout for a Return of the Jedi poster, for which was also directed by Marquand.
