Jagged Edge (1985)

San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Marquand

Writer:

Joe Eszterhas

Stars:

Jeff Bridges, Glenn Close, Peter Coyote

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maria Mayenzet	...	Page Forrester
Peter Coyote	...	Thomas Krasny
Dave Austin	...	Policeman
Richard Partlow	...	Policeman
Lance Henriksen	...	Frank Martin
William Allen Young	...	Greg Arnold
Ben Hammer	...	Dr. Goldman
Jeff Bridges	...	Jack Forrester
James Karen	...	Andrew Hardesty
Sanford Jensen	...	Scott Talbot
Woody Eney	...	Austin Lofton
Al Ruscio	...	Carl Siegal
Sharon Hanian	...	Assistant D.A.
Sarah Cunningham	...	First Judge
Glenn Close	...	Teddy Barnes

Storyline

San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires lawyer Teddy Barnes to defend him, despite the fact she hasn't handled a criminal case for many years. There's a certain chemistry between them and Teddy soon finds herself defending the man she loves.

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Plot Keywords:

court | neo noir | lawyer | heiress | beach house | 

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Taglines:

When a murder case is this shocking, which do you trust... your emotions or the evidence?

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hearts of Fire

Filming Locations:

1761 Potrero Road, Hidden Valley, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$40,500,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Delphi IV Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jane Fonda was originally attached to play the female lead. When she demanded that changes be made to Joe Eszterhas' script, the studio sided with Eszterhas and replaced her with Glenn Close.

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Goofs

After Teddy accepts the case, she and Sam are discussing Forrester passing the Polygraph test and what to do after. Behind them, we see a member of the production crew walk by the window, then quickly backing up after realizing that the cameras are still rolling.

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Quotes

Teddy Barnes: Did your mother ever wash your mouth out with soap and water?
Sam Ransom: Yeah, but it didn't do any fucking good.

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Connections

Referenced in Video Violence (1987)

User Reviews

Close But No Cigar

******SPOILERS****** A brutal double-murder of prominent socialite and newspaper heiress Mrs. Paige Forrester, Maria Mayenzet, and her house-maid Consuela Martinez occurs one rainy evening at the Forrester Estate outside San Francisco.

Page's husband Jack, Jeff Bridges, who was also injured in the attack, is indited for murder by the San Francisco DA Thomas Kersny, Peter Coyote. DA Kersn feels that Jack not only murdered his wife and her house-maid but also faked his own injury to throw off the police's suspicions about him being the killer. DA Kersny also has it in for Jack personally in that being the owner as well as editor of the influential San Francisco Times he's been writing unrelentingly negative editorials about him.

Being indited for his wife's murder Jack seeks out former DA Teddy Barnes, Glenn Close, who used to work with Thomas Kersny at the DA's office. Teddy quit some four years ago because of a case that she helped him with in which a defendant Henry Styles was convicted. Teddy later found out that Kersny withheld vital evidence that would have found Styles innocent. Later in the movie Teddy finds out that Styles hung himself in his cell from non other then Kersny himself! This got her even more upset then she already was about that case.

This sets up the movies storyline: A brutal double-murder is committed and a DA who has it in for the murder suspect jumps into the case for personal more then for professional reasons. The lawyer who defends the murder suspect has guilt feelings for working with the DA prosecuting the case against her client. Added to all that she's almost driven into a serious depression when she finds out that the person that she helped the DA convict, who she later found out was innocent, has just killed himself. With all the "red herrings" flying around in the movie does the murder weapon a hunting knife with a jagged edge belong to Jack? Most of all did the affairs, by both Jack and Page, one or both lead to Page's murder?

It's also a mystery if the dashing and handsome tennis gigolo Bobby Slade (Marshall Colt),who was having an affair with Page, killed her when she threatened to leave him and then frame her husband Jack for her murder?

The movie "Jagged Edge" holds itself together pretty well until the final fifteen minutes and then just falls apart like a house of cards. The totally contrived as well as unrealistic ending hits the viewer like a solid punch right in the stomach and knocks all the wind out of him or her. It's hard to believe that the killer would end up being so careless and stupid after bing so smart and cunning during the entire movie. This after he got away with the crime Scot-free and having nothing at all to fear from the law, why did he have to blow it all in the end?

"Jagged Edge" is not a bad movie it's a very good murder/mystery/court thriller but with a terrible ending and it's a good ending that's the most important thing in a movie like it.