Jade (1995)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writer (WGA):

Joe Eszterhas (written by)

Release Date:

13 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Some fantasies go too far.

Plot:

Someone does a nasty hatchet job on a San Fransisco big noise and the Assistant D.A. takes charge of the investigation...

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | Cocaine | Dead Woman In Morgue | Car Chase | Disturbing

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

David Caruso	...	David Corelli
Linda Fiorentino	...	Trina Gavin
Chazz Palminteri	...	Matt Gavin
Richard Crenna	...	Gov. Lew Edwards
Michael Biehn	...	Bob Hargrove
Donna Murphy	...	Karen Heller
Ken King	...	Petey Vesko
Holt McCallany	...	Bill Barrett
David Hunt	...	Pat Callendar
Angie Everhart	...	Patrice Jacinto
Kevin Tighe	...	Dist. Atty. Arnold Clifford
Robin Thomas	...	Mr. Green
Jay Jacobus	...	Justin Henderson
Victoria Smith	...	Sandy
Drew Snyder	...	Executive

MPAA:

Rated R for grisly afterviews of murder victims, violence, language and strong scenes of aberrant sexuality.

Runtime:

95 min | USA:107 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | USA:R (certificate #33482) | USA:Unrated (home video version) | Singapore:PG (video rating) (cut) | Australia:R | Singapore:R(A) | Argentina:16 | Canada:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Italy:VM18 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Chinatown, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

According to Joe Eszterhas's autobiography he hated the final film. Director William Friedkin changed Eszterhas's SCRIPT so much, he threatened to remove his name from the credits. Paramount settled with him by giving him a "blind script deal" worth two to four Million Dollars.

Goofs:

Continuity: The blood stains on the black Ford Thunderbird's headlights change repeatedly between shots during the chase.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Matt Gavin: Trina, the next time we make love, you introduce me to Jade.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

Soundtrack:

Isn't It Romantic

Stylish thriller, better than expected

Jade got a bad rap when it showed in theaters and still appears to be getting one now from the comments here, so I didn't expect much when I caught it on cable. It never hurts to have low expectations, but I was quite pleasantly surprised and have watched it a few more times since then.

No, the plot isn't especially tight nor the story original, and it can be hard to follow at some points, but it's still an exciting, kinky, disturbing ride nonetheless.

I think the main reason I enjoyed it was the actors involved - Caruso and Palminteri were both very skilled (and surprisingly sexy - I hadn't found either to be that way in any roles I had seen them in previously, including NYPD Blue). And most of all Fiorentino smokes up the screen whenever she's on it. Sensual, damaged, brilliant. She's amazing when given a good script like the Last Seduction, but even with a flawed effort such as Jade, she still sets the house on fire.

The cinematography and art direction were the other thing that made this film. I loved the lavish sets and especially the eerie lighting during the final scene.

And as far as the comparisons to Basic Instinct, I see it as being about equal, suffering from the opposite problems as Jade; while the story was far more interesting the acting was pendantic at best. But maybe that's just my personal bias; I find Michael Douglas pompous and annoying and Sharon Stone shallow and vain.