Jagged Edge (1985)

★ 6.3 1h 48m 285 votes IMDb
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After a wealthy heiress is murdered in her beach house, her devastated husband becomes the prime suspect. He hires a lawyer who hasn’t taken a criminal case in years, and as they work together, a complicated romance develops amidst the trial.

Jagged Edge

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Cast

Glenn Close
Glenn Close as Teddy Barnes Age 79 · Greenwich, Connecticut, USA Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on screen and stage, she has received numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awar...
Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges as Jack Forrester Age 76 · Los Angeles, California, USA Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor, singer, and producer. He comes from a prominent acting family and appeared on the television series Sea Hunt (1958–60), with his fath...
Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote as Thomas Krasny Age 84 · New York City, New York, USA Peter Coyote (born Rachmil Pinchus Ben Mosha Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work in...
Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen as Frank Martin Age 85 · Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor and artist. He is best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as The Terminator,...
Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia as Sam Ransom Died 2015 · Staten Island, New York, USA Salvatore "Robert" Loggia (January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jagged Edge (1985) and won the Saturn Award f...
Michael Dorn
Michael Dorn as Dan Hislan Age 73 · Luling - Texas - USA Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor and voice artist who is best known for his role as the Klingon Worf from the Star Trek franchise. Dorn was born in Luling, Texas, the son of...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Jun 07, 2014
Sharp film, serrated ending.

Teddy Barnes is a conflicted lawyer, still reeling from the dubious methods of a colleague, she takes on the defence of Jack Forrester, who is accused of murdering his wife with a jagged edged knife. Gradually falling for Jack's seductive powers, Teddy falls in love with the man she now has to defend, her problems it seems, are about to become far far worse.

Jagged Edge, directed by Richard Marquand, starring Glenn Close (Teddy), Jeff Bridges (Jack), Robert Loggia (Sam Ransom) and Peter Coyote (Thomas Krasny), is bringing nothing new to the table of a much replicated genre. It does however boast brilliant acting, a tremendous screenplay (Joe Eszterhas) and a production value that demands it be viewed with less than cynical eyes. That it is written by Eszterhas is obvious when looking at the structure of the picture, death, sex, troubled romance, greed and that old devil called obsession (Basic Instinct anyone?), yet aided by a competent director and an exemplary cast, Jagged Edge shines brighter than most other films of its ilk.

It looks a little frayed (not jagged) around the edges now, but that is purely because of the advent of time and the ream of thrillers using this format that have followed this piece. If one (such as I) can transport oneself back to the 80s and view Jagged Edge on its original terms, then its easy to recognise just what a well put together picture it is. Close and Bridges are superb, whilst Robert Loggia steals the picture from under their noses, his interplay with Close is a particular highlight. In spite of some less than great twists and unsubtle scapegoat placings, Jagged Edge succeeds because you are there at the finale, and because its held you in its grip all along, you (hopefully) have invested yourself with these characters, you simply just have to know, for better or worse!

The ending was cause for much discussion back in the day, and viewing it now it still feels like a moment of cheek mixed in with some form of clarity, but rest assured it works well, as does, funnily enough, the whole film. No world beater here, but highly accomplished and worth the time of any thriller obsessed movie fan. 7/10

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