Jade

Tags

1990's, Chazz Palminteri, David Caruso, Erotic Thriller, Jade, Linda Fiorentino, Michael Biehn, Richard Crenna, Thriller, William Friedkin

Film Title

Jade

Director

William Friedkin

Starring

• David Caruso as David Corelli
• Linda Fiorentino as Trina Gavin
• Chazz Palminteri as Matt Gavin
• Richard Crenna as Lew Edwards
• Michael Biehn as Bob Hargrove

A movie that is often its own worst enemy, Jade becomes a severely mixed bag throughout. There may be a few points of praise to be found, but on the spectrum it slides into a more negative side than positive.

David Corelli is a San Francisco Assistant District Attorney with ambitions to go higher. These ambitions are put on hold for his latest investigation which involves a rather grisly murder. A wealthy art dealer by the name of Kyle Medford has been killed in his home with an antique hatchet. Bob Hargrove, a detective on the case and someone who frequently clashes with Corelli discovers compromising photos in the dead man’s safe. Depicting governor Lew Edwards engaging in sex with a prostitute, these pictures as deduced by Corelli, were the fruits of attempted blackmail. Various wealthy businessman were filmed without their knowledge, with their pants down in a beach house. Medford was trying to blackmail them all with footage and photos and it looks as if he payed the price for his actions.Through questioning of various people who appear to have been involved, the name Jade is referenced frequently, arousing the interest of Corelli . The mysterious Jade is a prostitute who was according to other women the most popular lady of night willing to do just about anything for a client. Then things get a lot more complicated for Corelli as fingerprints on the murder weapon are traced back to someone he knows very well. That someone is Trina Gavin, a demure psychologist and non-fiction writer who he used to romance and is now married to his best friend, ruthless defence attorney Matt Gavin. Could Trina really be the mysterious Jade who appears to link everyone? Is she guilty of murder? As digs deeper, more secrets and an unfurling game of perversion, corruption and scandal that reaches high levels of power puts him to the test and could very well threaten his life.

In the films of William Friedkin, he has always managed to imprint his stamp on them, even when they’ve been less than desirable films. The same can be spoken of here because while Jade is a mess, the direction from Friedkin is supremely stylish. It’s a crying shame then that many other parts of the movie, despite some bright spots, can not really get itself together to craft a compelling story. For every good step the movie takes, the two steps back that follow do a major detriment to it. The main point of contention is the script which attempts to make the film unusual and erotic, but ends up feeling dry. It tries to introduce sex games to tantalize the viewer, adding in kinky acts too, but while Jade is billed as an erotic thriller, it’s not nearly erotic enough to sustain interest. On the thriller front, there is a very cool and well choreographed car chase that is mightily effective and one of the highlights of the picture. In it, Corelli gives chase to an assassin’s car and they speed down steep hills and eventually get caught up in a Chinatown parade that hampers both. The scene is one of the best in the movie, which makes it all the more difficult to sit through the rest of the film because the following parts are just a mess. The pace has a quickness too it, but is out-of-place in a movie that should have more of a slow burn about it instead of jumping ship. The characters are not particularly compelling or intriguing, all seem to have a one note tendency. At least there is an exotic and oriental influenced score provided by James Horner that’s sensually orchestrated and gives Jade some of the erotic flavour that much of the picture lacks. And a honeyed cinematography brings a touch of class to proceedings in which respectability is something lacking.

As the script is lacking in many areas, the acting suffers though the main cast tries their best to make something substantial. Noe of the actors can really be blamed as they what they can, but nothing can save this sort of script. David Caruso has the right toughness for the part, but the character is a damp squib who constantly looks morose. If we had more meaning to his character, it could have been something else entirely. In the part of the mysterious Trina, Linda Fiorentino is alluring enough. Yet like with the characterization of Caruso’s role, her part is not given enough input into the story and this is problematic. Even the robust presence of the reliable Chazz Palminteri is squandered by poor writing. Richard Crenna and Michael Biehn(sporting a suspect moustache) are given scant to do here.

So so while the direction is well-appointed, James Horner’s music is sultry and the car chase stands out as a good set piece, Jade feels too convoluted, rushed and one-note to really be considered a great thriller.

Body Heat

Tags

1980's, Body Heat, J.A. Preston, Kathleen Turner, Lawrence Kasdan, Mickey Rourke, Neo Noir, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, Thriller, William Hurt

Film Title

Body Heat

Director

Lawrence Kasdan

Starring

• William Hurt as Ned Racine
• Kathleen Turner as Matty Walker
• Richard Crenna as Edmund Walker
• Ted Danson as Peter Lowenstein
•  J.A. Preston as Oscar Grace
• Mickey Rourke as Teddy Lewis

A truly scintillating and wicked neo noir, Body Heat provides dark-hearted and sexy viewing as temperatures rise and danger lurks. As the directing debut of Lawrence Kasdan, he crafts a sultry tale of seduction and murder that burns with an erotic frisson and superb performances from the leads William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. With this being my first viewing of the film after hearing all the praise it had received, I’m happy to report that Body Heat more than lived up to my expectations.

The setting is Florida as a sweltering and unbearable heat wave grips the area. Ned Racine is a sleazy lawyer who is bored and not exactly the sharpest guy out there. One fateful night while out, he encounters the seductive Matty Walker, a woman married to a very rich man. It is lust at first sight as Ned becomes entranced with the gorgeous Matty and soon begins a steamy affair with her while her husband is away. As the affair grows more intense, Matty begins to plant the seed of killing her husband. It appears that having signed a prenup, Matty wouldn’t inherit anything of her husbands fortune from a divorce. Only if her husband dies first does everything of value go to her. Increasingly bewitched by Matty, Ned agrees to it hoping that his workings with the law will enable the two to escape from justice. Successfully going through with it, Ned kills and seems to cover up any sign of murder, staging it as an arson job that went wrong. Yet as events take a darker turn, the bewildered Ned begins to realise that the alluring Matty has other ideas of her own and for the whole time has used him for her own gain in a devious plan. Yet by this point, it could be too late for Ned as he becomes prime suspect in the case that Matty so cunningly orchestrated and ensnared him in.

Lawrence Kasdan, as writer and debuting director, is on fine form in both seats. Respectfully giving notice to the dark noir of the past and updating it with a sexy pulse, he makes sure Body Heat is deliciously dark and wicked as hell. As writer, he contributes a smart, crackling script laced with double entendres and a keen sense of events unraveling slowly but very surely in a suitably dark and dangerous style. With this movies, the talented Kasdan works utter wonders in the way he brings out the dangerous machinations that femme fatale Matty has crafted in a slow burning way and cloaks them in a sweltering and sexual ambience. There are some excellent moments of dark foreshadowing that are peppered through Body Heat as warnings for Ned that he misses as the plot becomes more sinister.The heatwave that grips steamy Florida almost becomes a character itself and as an audience, we can feel the sweat and steamy passion sizzling from every frame. I think it’s safe to say that after viewing Body Heat, you may need to cool down from the sizzling heat of it all. And speaking of sizzling, no discussion of Body Heat would be complete without talking about the erotic encounters between Ned and Matty. Strikingly shot in bold oranges and shadows, they form the darkly passionate core of the movie and the chemistry between Hurt and Turner practically sets the screen on fire. A score accentuated with smooth jazz from John Barry goes a long way in helping set the sultry tone of this masterful thriller.

William Hurt is well cast as Ned, capturing the womanizing nature, easily led and naive mannerisms of him as he quickly becomes trapped in Matty’s plan and can’t see no way out as he is clearly in over his head because of his blinding passion for her. Yet the biggest impression made in Body Heat is from Kathleen Turner, in what was her debut role. Seductive, husky voiced and coldly calculating beneath the surface, Turner is marvellous at imbuing Matty with a dark sense of deception, masked by come hither glances and sexual energy. It is the definition of a star making role and Turner knows it as she creates a modern femme fatale who is bad to the bone and as manipulative as they come, constantly two steps ahead of all the other characters. Engaging supporting performances from Richard Crenna as the ill-fated husband, Ted Danson as Ned’s nerdy prosecutor friend and Oscar Grace as a detective thinking that Ned knows more than he’s telling all contribute their presence to the film. And watch out for an early performance from Mickey Rourke as one of Ned’s former clients who supplies him with the means to go through with murder.

Body Heat is an excellent example of how to successfully create a neo noir with just the right amount of hat-tipping to the past and the perfect contemporary setting for modern audiences.