Jagged Edge (1985) Columbia/Suspense-Thriller RT: 108 minutes Rated R (violence including rape, sexual content, brief nudity, language) Director: Richard Marquand Screenplay: Joe Eszterhas Music: John Barry Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti Release date: October 4, 1985 (US) Cast: Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, Peter Coyote, Robert Loggia, John Dehner, Karen Austin, Guy Boyd, Marshall Colt, Louis Giambalvo, Ben Hammer, Lance Henriksen, Sanford Jensen, James Karen, Leigh Taylor-Young, William Allen Young, John Clark, Diane Erickson, Bruce French, Phyllis Applegate, Al Ruscio., Brandon Call, Christina Hutter. Box Office: $40.4M (US)
Rating: ****
The best murder mysteries toy with your mind like one of those wind-up monkeys with the cymbals. They keep you guessing throughout who committed the murder. They dangle clue after clue as to the killer’s identity. They task you with weeding out the red herrings from the actual clues. They keep you in suspense until the very end when the killer is finally revealed. Jagged Edge is such a movie. It’s a well-oiled thriller that doesn’t tip its hand prematurely. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, it throws another curve ball. The only predictable thing about it is its unpredictability.
Directed by Richard Marquand (Return of the Jedi), it opens with the brutal murder of a wealthy San Francisco socialite by a masked intruder. Her husband, newspaper publisher Jack Forrester (Bridges, Starman), is charged with the crime by politically ruthless DA Thomas Krasny (Coyote, E.T.). Jack hires high-profile lawyer Teddy Barnes (Close, Fatal Attraction) to defend him. Although she doesn’t practice criminal law anymore, she agrees to take his case after he convinces her of his innocence. While they prepare for the trial, they start a romantic relationship. Isn’t this what they call a conflict of interest?
It should go without saying Teddy has a history with Krasny. When she was with the DA’s office, they worked on a case together. There was some legal malfeasance on his part. He did it to further his career. That’s when she quit and joined a corporate law firm. It’s been weighing on her conscience ever since.
The late Marquand is one of the great unsung directors of the 80s. Most people know him for helming the concluding installment of the original Star Wars trilogy. He also directed the underrated WWII espionage thriller Eye of the Needle starring Donald Sutherland as a German spy. That’s the first title that pops into my mind when I think of Marquand. Jagged Edge is right up there in terms of quality, effectiveness and craftsmanship. I’ll never forget the first time I saw it. Oh, how naïve I was at 17. I was convinced I knew who the killer was. I picked the most obvious suspect based on this person’s behavior. I was dead wrong. The big reveal in the finale (which includes a jump-scare that still gets me after all these years) was a real shocker. It made me rethink the entire movie.
One of my favorite things about Jagged Edge is supporting actor Robert Loggia (Psycho II). He plays Sam, a craggy ex-cop who did investigative work for the DA’s office until Teddy left. He’s like a father to her. She convinces him to help out with Jack’s case. Simply put, HE IS AMAZING! His character serves as both the voice of reason and her protector. He gets the movie’s final line. I won’t print it as it would be a major spoiler, but trust me when I say it’s classic.
The screenplay by Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct) is intelligent and brimming with suspense. I won’t reveal key details, but the way he unspools the plot with all its twists and turns is brilliant. He does an ace job developing the relationship between the two leads even if he doesn’t spend any time on the ethical issues that should arise from such a relationship. You’d think that a smart lady like Teddy would know better, but as Sam points out, she’s thinking with the wrong part of her anatomy. On the other hand, it adds extra dimension to an already sordid case.
Bridges is one of my favorite actors, so I may be slightly biased in praising his performance in Jagged Edge. Jack is a hard-to-read person. He might be telling the truth or he might be a master manipulator. He could be innocent or he could have been planning his wife’s murder for a long time. You want to believe in his innocence, but there’s something there that you can’t quite put your finger on. He’s hiding something, but what? Close is equally terrific as the lawyer that wants to believe him. Her character is imbued with cynicism stemming from her previous association with Krasny, a politically ambitious rat bastard who will stoop to anything to further his career. In the role, Coyote is pitch perfect. I’d also like to give a shout-out to Marshall Colt (North Dallas Forty) as a witness for the prosecution. He literally made my skin crawl. That’s all I’ll say about him.
Everything about Jagged Edge works from the solid direction to the level of suspense to the score by John Barry. It moves at just the right pace. It works as both thriller and courtroom drama. It tells a complex story without complicating things unnecessarily. It even finds time to show Teddy, a divorced mother of two, trying to balance her professional and personal lives. I’d go so far as to say Jagged Edge is one the best thrillers of the 80s. Even better, it still holds up today. It’s excellent.
