Jagged Edge
BBB.5
(out of 5)
While this film doesn’t offer a murder mystery much different from any popular paperback novel, the experience of going through the colour-by-numbers plot is fun. Glenn Close is excellent as a criminal lawyer (in criminally tight miniskirts) who hasn’t handled a murder case in years when a desperate man (Jeff Bridges) asks her to represent him. His wife was murdered in their home and he’s the prime suspect, on trial for her death and in need of a good lawyer. Close takes the case, eventually falling in love with Bridges but always sure to keep eyes peeled in case of emergency. Robert Loggia contributes terrific support as a policeman friend of Close’s who wants her to be more careful, and the script by Joe Eszterhas is a clever collection of twists and engaging courtroom dramatics.
USA, 1985
Directed by Richard Marquand
Screenplay by Joe Eszterhas
Cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti
Produced by Martin Ransohoff
Music by John Barry
Production Design by Gene Callahan
Costume Design by Ann Roth
Film Editing by Sean Barton, Conrad Buff IV
Cast Tags: Abigail Van Alyn, Al Ruscio, Ann Walker, Ben Hammer, Biff Yeager, Bill Gratton, Brandon Call, Brenda Huggins, Bruce French, Christina Hutter, Dave Austin, David Wiley, Dean Webber, Diane Erickson, Edwina Moore, Glenn Close, Guy Boyd, James Karen, James Winkler, Jay Crimp, Jeff Bridges, John Clark,John Dehner, John Furlong, John X. Heart, Joyce Shank, Judith Siegfried, Karen Austin, Karen Wonnell, Lance Henriksen, Leigh Taylor-Young, Louis Giambalvo, Maria Mayenzet, Marshall Colt, Michael Dorn, Mike Mitchell, Peter Coyote, Phyllis Applegate, Richard Marion, Richard Partlow, Robert Loggia, Sally Train, Sanford Jensen, Sarah Cunningham, Sharon Hanian, Sharon Madden, Sue Rihr,Suzanne Lodge, Terry Wills, Walter Brooke, William Allen Young, Woody Eney
Academy Award Nomination
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Loggia as “Sam Ransom”)
