JAGGED EDGE

a film by Richard Marquand  released through Columbia Pictures in 1985

Slippery, dangerous characters with real potential are wasted in Jagged Edge, as all credibility is drained from the movie because of the buffoonery of the heroine.  She's a brilliant trial strategist...who can't manage to not sleep with her client, accused of murdering his wife.  She finds out during the trial that he's been lying to her, breaks up, but falls back in the sack with him in no time flat.  Meanwhile, in a head-scratching subplot, the absence of which might have given the story just enough credibility to manage on (very deft) plot mechanics alone, we spend way too much time on pointless scenes with the heroine's kids, and—get this—the heroine's ex-husband is on such good terms with her that he facilitates a rendezvous with her new lover and happily takes the kids off her hands!  In what world does that happen?  This is a movie full of superficial kicks—edgy violence and court-room histrionics—but no brains, as coincidences relentlessly pile atop one another, and characters do dumb things simply because the screenwriter orders them to.  This one is guilty on all counts.
 

★☆☆☆☆

Best for ages 18+

FEATURING

JEFF BRIDGES, GLENN CLOSE, PETER COYOTE, AND ROBERT LOGGIA

© 2023 Ian C. Bloom