Jade

I'm shocked by the huge number of negative comments. This film is great, obviously written before Showgirls was released (when the screenwriter's ego was still intact.) Between Joe's deliriously entertaining B-movie dialogue and Friedkin's rock-solid direction, I find this movie fascinating and fun, the only downpoint being the lackluster ending. Jade has the greatest car chase I've seen in any film since the last time this director tackled one, and it's full of cute little references to the rest of his career. There is even a blatant homage to "Cruising" (Al Pacino) for those of you who were really paying attention. When David Caruso takes those cufflinks out of the drawer and looks in the mirror as we fade to the beach skyline...shot for shot and beat for beat it's the last two shots of Cruising, and it even conveys a similar meaning. This movie is clever, raunchy, sexy and fun. It's not the greatest film ever made, but it certainly deserves a lot more credit than it is receiving here. When did film lovers become such humorless prudes? (And why did Friedkin insist that the DVD be released only in a fullscreen version? Why, why, why???)

This unanimously panned film in the erotic thriller sub-genre marked both the beginning and the end of David Caruso's career as a leading man in feature films, and turned out to be among director William Friedkin's biggest commercial flops. There's no doubt that this is a flawed film with a cluttered Joe Eszterhas script that doesn't really hold up, but it's a lot better than its reputation would suggest. Friedkin himself was saddened by the film's lack of success, citing it as his favourite movie. And one can see why, because there are some portions of crisp filmmaking in here which are as edgy and emphatic as Friedkin was in his New Hollywood films of the 1970s, such as The French Connection. In particular, there's a car chase segment which stands out, directed with an old-fashioned craftsmanship that makes most of today's modern action sequences look inorganic. For as long as he is able to veil the script's obvious plot holes, Friedkin along with an industrious and fairly believable David Caruso make this an enjoyable thriller.

A wealthy art collector (and admirer of world leaders Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Richard M. Nixon) is murdered in his San Francisco mansion. Due to repeated chops with a hatchet, there is an abundance of blood. Along with many pricey artifacts, the dead man has an amply supply of sex paraphernalia. His most prized possession appears to be a collection of his partners' pubic hair. Four hours later, red-haired assistant district attorney David Caruso (as David Corelli) is at a dance attended by still sexy old flame Linda Fiorentino (as Anna Katrina "Trina" Maxwell). He still longs for her, but she married best friend Chazz Palminteri (as Matt Gavin), a rich defense lawyer. Employed to investigate, Mr. Caruso finds a cuff-link at the murder scene. Curiously, he decides to withhold it from other collected evidence...

The cuff-link is from "The Golden Bay Club" where Caruso and Mr. Palminteri are members. Also discovered is the murder victim's collection of pornographic pictures. Most importantly, there are photographs of California Governor Richard Crenna (as Lew Edwards) with a young prostitute. Caruso confronts Mr. Crenna with the dirty pictures and is threateningly told he has a future in State politics comparable to Jerry Brown - a line they must regret, as Mr. Brown is presently serving an historic term as Governor. Everything seems to come together in an intriguing web of sex, mystery and murder. But, by the end, "Jade" proves looks can be deceiving. This is a puzzle with pieces shoved into place, by director William Friedkin. He shows the usual skill with car chase scenes, but doesn't make this story coherent.

***** Jade (10/13/95) William Friedkin ~ David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna

This is a decent erotic thriller/mystery brought down by predictability, cliché and some rather bad writing. The film does have an impressive pedigree, having been directed by William Friedkin, and starring Chazz Palminteri, Linda Fiorentino as well as a pre-CSI: Miami David Caruso. All of the actors do a serviceable job, but they have to deliver some of the hammiest dialogue I've ever heard. The script is devoid of any real surprises or thrills, and so it relies on an over-insistent score. It's like it's shouting "Look at me! Take me seriously!", except it's impossible to take anything in this movie seriously. The most impressive part of the movie is the intro (before the score has become overbearing), which features some creepy music and surrealistic camera-work. It's too bad that they overuse the style throughout the film, though. Another bright spot was a well-filmed (but ridiculous) car chase through San Francisco, but it wears out its welcome once they hit Chinatown and the movie almost literally comes to a halt. So, there's also some issues with pacing, particularly in that sequence. However, the biggest problem with this movie is the script, penned by Joe Eszterhaz (who also wrote BASIC INSTINCT and SHOWGIRLS). Not only is the story relatively unengaging, but it's rather misogynistic towards its female characters, and the voyeuristic camera-work doesn't help in that regard either. At best, it's a rather bland erotic thriller with some decent performances, but it could be worth a late-night watch if you're into this sort of thing.

I think this movie has the lowest IMDB user vote rating of any movie that I like. It is really an entertaining movie and I am not sure why it is getting such poor ratings here. It is not perfect and may have a few plot holes, but it is definitely worth seeing. There must be an anti-Caruso IMDB splinter cell operating in cyberspace and conspiring to drop the IMDB user rating for all his movies about 2 to 3 points. Check it out and see what you think. Linda Fiorentino is truly hot and well cast as the steamy babe. Caruso's performance is very believable. Richard Crenna is underrated and good here too. Angie Everhart and Donna Murphy are pleasing to look at and also give good performances in smaller roles. Ignore the anti-Caruso crowd, who must be a band of closet NYPD Blue freaks that are still upset that he left that show to make films.