By Marc S. Sanders
Joe Eszterhas is the screenwriter of Basic Instinct, which attracted a slew of controversy for its risqué nudity and sexual content framed around a brutal crime drama that many took issue with painting lesbianism in an unfavorable light, by means of an icepick. If I recall correctly, he sold his screenplay for twenty million and while I consider it to be a crackling good thriller, it’s clear the writer and director (Paul Verhoven) were aiming for shock material of boobs, blood and revealing cross legged visuals to amplify what could’ve been an tame episode of Columbo.
Prior to that profitable notoriety, Eszterhas churned out courtroom drama mired in lust and murder called Jagged Edge. I imagine this film was considered daring when released in 1985. However, jumping to forty years later, everything from the sexual material to the courtroom antics appear stale, outdated and lacking any kind of zip. In this movie, the murder trial plays like a table tennis volley. A witness is called by the prosecution, and the defense is shocked as to who this could be. The favor is returned when the defense calls a witness. Both sides sit up in their chairs and ask why they didn’t know about this person or why wasn’t evidence presented in discovery and so forth. Two years after this movie came out, L.A. Law hit the airwaves every Thursday night and this routine became ritual fodder. Counsel would outsmart the opposition and grin like they shot baskets from center court. Today though, even I’m much smarter than the lawyers that Eszterhas drafted into this script directed by the late Richard Marquand (Return Of The Jedi, Eye Of The Needle).
Jeff Bridges is the handsome local San Francisco newspaper editor, Jack Forrester. He is the husband accused of murdering his wealthy wife in bed with a hunting knife. The blade is curved and the top of it is jagged. Hence the title. He’s known for his infidelity, and for repeatedly criticizing the city prosecutor, Tom Kransy (Peter Coyote) in print. His business attorneys recruit Teddy Barnes (Glenn Close) to defend him. Teddy has partnering experience with Kransy when they were prosecuting together. A rift occurred between the two lawyers over a question of ethics. She moved away from crime and into contract law.
Teddy warns Jack that if he’s not honest with her, she will cease to represent him. Mr. Eszterhas, I think we know what will happen. Right? The witnesses in this trial are nothing challenging for either side. They topple easily under Teddy and Tom’s questioning and when one side gets a huge advantage, the panic on the other side never feels truly convincing or suspenseful. If these lawyers had more intelligence than the pens they hold, they would have vetted these people just a fraction better before allowing their testimony. Yet, Jagged Edge is supposed to be fast food law.
What complicates this case is that ahead of the trial, as Teddy prepares, she becomes engaged in a sexual relationship with Jack. Horseback riding specially builds the stimulation. There is the Eszterhas label that many will recognize (Basic Instinct, Jade, Sliver, Showgirls). The titles speak for themselves when glancing over his resume. Teddy is supposed to come off with brains and intuition. Yet, she follows through with unconvincing neglect. Glenn Close is just too smart a person to be playing someone this reckless and stupid. In 1985 though, maybe I could buy this. Law & Order episodes likely enhanced the intelligence of what we see in the eyes of the court since that time.
Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close have good chemistry, but Jagged Edge is cookie cutter material in the courtroom while the breadcrumbs that bring the two together are ridiculous. Recently, I saw Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat for the first time. That’s a sexy thriller that works between a lawyer and a murder suspect because the lawyer was a sleaze from the get-go. Teddy Barnes is an attorney with principals. She’s also a loving mother and maintains a good relationship with her ex-husband. So it lacks merit when I see her break her code of ethics so easily by getting involved with her murder suspected client. It only happens because the omnipotent Joe Eszterhas makes it so by forcing a circle into a square. This professional woman even invites the accused back to her house where her kids reside. Really? Glenn Close’s characters would never do this. Kim Kardashian’s portrayals are another story.
When the killer is finally revealed in Scooby Doo fashion – mask pulled off the culprit – it could have gone one of three ways and any answer would have worked as well as drawing a card in a game of Clue. Basic Instinct has a similar kind of ending. It really didn’t matter how it wrapped up. Columbo would have to walk back his steps to deliver undeniable proof. Joe Eszterhas just makes it so and that’s what it will become, like a Choose Your Own Adventure.
Actually, this film had some controversy because when the mask is pulled off the killer, audiences questioned whose face they were actually looking at. The studio insisted on editing a little more time on the close up following the film’s initial release of first prints. Siskel & Ebert devoted some airtime three weeks after the film came out to discuss as well. I can see why there was skepticism, but I felt certain on who it was I was looking at.
Either way, Jagged Edge would always be considered pedestrian material with deliberate shocks of SEX and MURDER for the sake of drawing in crowds for its erotic nature. Five years later, Basic Instinct would be the one to go full tilt, though.
