Jeff Bridges in Jagged Edge
I know what you mean, Andrew, and I wondered myself; but I simply couldn't think of a fifth male whom I thought was better. I find Bridges' performance fascinating and disturbing: is it the actor's charm we respond to, or the character's? (AND HERE BE SPOILERS) Has he very successfully shielded his guilt from us, or is he genuinely deluded? That paradox holds me, and, though it isn't an obvious contender for one of the performances of the decade (I had Jack Nicholson in Terms of Endearment, Klaus Maria Brandauer in Out of Africa and William Hickey in Prizzi's Honor on my shortlist with Bridges), his underplaying and charisma do the job for me (I think).
As for the movie itself, I don't quite agree that it's Basic Instinct lite. Jagged Edge takes itself more seriously, and has a very effective thriller tone which makes me queasy. Its most powerful moments (e.g. the opening murder, the cross-examination of the training instructor by Glenn Close, and the ingenuity of the subplot involving the woman who was almost raped a year or so earlier) aren't matched by the later movie.
My one big problem with Jagged Edge is that, having carefully constructed its plot and successfully managed our changing allegiances for most of its running time, it gives up ten minutes before the end with Close's foolish response to the finding of the typewriter, her 'everything's okay' moment on the 'phone at her home existing purely so the final confrontation can occur. Even though I prefer Basic Instinct, and admire and enjoy its mise en scène, its general politically incorrect hi-jinks, and the strut of Sharon Stone's performance, Jagged Edge is a movie which I feel continues to hold up well.
And besides... 'He was trash!'
3 comments:
Thanks for your post: I wanted to hear more from you on the subject!
I think Jagged Edge only comes across as taking itself more seriously because Richard Marquand is much more of a plodding, journeyman director than Verhoeven (who's really the only director to make Joe Eszterhas' shit shine). The Jagged Edge screenplay is every bit as preposterous as the screenplay for Basic Instinct; it features a lot of the same trademark Eszterhas dialogue ("The guy had a rap sheet as long as my dick"); and Robert Loggia could easily have been one of Shooter's colleagues.
I agree with you that it completely blows it in the last ten minutes. To add to your objections, I find it illogical that Bridges would have just left the typewriter sitting there in his closet, given its significance to his plan and given his meticulousness with everything else.
The movie is still a lot of fun, though. Now I want to go and revisit The Morning After!!
After seeing you guys post about "Jagged Edge", I wanted to re-watch it before reading your comments. I finally got it on Netflix and gave it a look. Now I remember seeing it back in the 80s, and thinking it was really scary. Not anymore! I do admit to liking the leading performances of Bridges and Close. But there is so little else there. The soundtrack, thin plot, and supporting actors all seemed pretty laughable. And the entire court sequence is one of the goofiest in cinema, with an implausible parade of surprise witnesses and insane judge rulings on objections. The real fun for me was in moments like the witness testimony of how Bridges used his horses to seduce women, so that Close discovered this very personal revelation in public during the murder trial! If the script could have sustained that level of intrigue, it would have really been cooking. Oh, and maybe one other realistic suspect besides Bridges could have helped add a little suspense. I'm sorry, the hyper-evil tennis instructor comes right from the "Murder She Wrote" book of obviously wrong suspects.
There's also some great camp value to be had from the Close-Coyote relationship, especially in the courtroom scenes. I love the scene right after Close wins the case and she gets all the journalists huddled around her to listen to her big exposé about Coyote's past.
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