by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: Discs: 3, The Film: 3/5, The Extras: 4/5, Overall: 7/10
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna, Michael Biehn, Kevin Tighe, Angie Everhart, Holt McCallany
Intro:
… a must-own for fans of this derided but decent example of the genre.
The Film:
On paper, Jade should have been an absolute winner. You’ve got a superb director in the form of William Friedkin, the mad auteur who gave us The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), the grotesquely underrated Sorcerer (1977) and Cruising (1980). You also had one of the hottest screenwriters of the time, Joe Eszterhas, whose erotic thrillers like Basic Instinct (1992) and Sliver (1993) were raking in the dosh at the box office. Then you had a stellar cast that included a hot off NYPD Blue David Caruso, rising star Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna, and Michael Biehn. Oh, and you had the great super producer Robert Evans, the bloke who essentially willed films like The Godfather (1972) and Chinatown (1974) into being, keeping the behind-the-scenes action humming along. And yet, the film was a critical and commercial failure at time of release, receiving brutal reviews and leaving people with the general impression that Jade was an erotic thriller that was neither terribly erotic nor thrilling. And not just because they hired a ranga in a lead role!
So, what went wrong? If we had to choose a culprit, it’s probably the script, but more on that in a sec.
The story of Jade focuses on Assistant District Attorney David Corelli (David Caruso), called to investigate the murder of a prominent businessman. The poor bastard was skinned with an antique hatchet and some candid photographs found in his safe are making a lot of local politicians and community leaders very nervous. As Corelli investigates further, he finds a connection to Katrina Gavin (Linda Fiorentino), an old flame of his and the current wife of his good mate, Matt (Chazz Palminteri). But who is using who in this dark game of secrets and infidelity, and who is the mysterious and very popular prostitute known only as “Jade”?
It’s a classic Eszterhas set up, with plenty of red herrings and kinky sex scenes to keep things boiling away – however, this sort of flashy, trashy material doesn’t really meld with Friedkin’s more intense, obsessive style. There’s a disconnect between subject and director and it does hurt the film’s overall appeal. That said, Jade is far from a bad movie. Viewed a few decades later, it’s a slick and engaging thriller with fine performances (particularly Fiorentino and Palminteri) and a vaguely subversive running theme of people in power using society as their own private root dungeon, which seems horribly relevant these days. Friedkin directs with his usual sense of control, but when he cuts loose, as with a fantastic car chase through San Francisco’s Chinatown district, the result is genuinely intense and gripping.
Admittedly, the ending is a bit of a letdown. Jade is a whodunnit with few suspects and an underwhelming third act revelation that doesn’t really get time to breathe. This is slightly mitigated in the Director’s Cut (which is undeniably the superior version), but neither iteration knocks it out of the park in terms of a satisfying denouement.
Still and all, this is a gorgeous looking film, particularly in 4K, with an engaging mystery, a stellar cast and lots of nostalgic ‘90s tropes. It’s not a masterpiece but it’s nowhere near the disaster its reputation suggests, and for film fans who miss the erotic thriller (which is arguably making a resurgence thanks to flicks like The Housemaid), Jade will likely be a welcome, slightly toey, walk down memory lane.
The Extras:
A pretty decent chest full of cultural artifacts here. There’s an audio commentary with film historian Jennifer Moorman, another one by film critic William Bibbiani, editor Augie Hess and assistant editor Darrin Navarro and a third one by film scholar/author Nina K. Martin and filmmaker Will Dodson.
There are two video essays, Friedkin’s Enigma and The Subversive Heart of William Friedkin’s ‘Jade’, that both do a decent job of digging into the subtext and themes from the film. Plus, there’s Eszterhas, Friedkin and ‘Jade’, an interview with Joe Eszterhas, and Hysterical Blindness: William Friedkin at Paramount, an illuminating interview with editor Augie Hess and assistant editor Darrin Navarro.
The cream of the crop, however, is the feature length documentary The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002). Adapted from the autobiographical (and more than a little hagiographical) book by producer Robert Evans, this is a wild, wooly and fascinating look at the rise, fall and then rise again of one of Hollywood’s most influential and iconic producers. If you have even a passing interest in the film biz in the 1960s-1990s, then this is a must watch, especially for some of the more insane stories Bob narrates in his own words. The film also comes with a pretty solid stack of extras including an audio commentary and various featurettes.
The whole collection comes packaged in a very flash-looking hardbox with a nice little hardback booklet to boot.
The Verdict:
Jade is not the best film from any of the creatives involved, but it is a stylish ‘90s erotic thriller with enough plot twists and well-executed sequences to keep all but the most jaded (heh) fans of the genre engaged.
The extras are fairly decent, with an entire feature length doco to boot, and having both versions of the flick in gorgeous 4K makes this collection a must-own for fans of this derided but decent example of the genre.
