Jagged Edge (film)

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Jagged Edge
Jagged edge poster.jpg
Directed by Richard Marquand
Produced by Martin Ransohoff
Written by Joe Eszterhas
Starring Glenn Close
Jeff Bridges
Robert Loggia
Peter Coyote
Music by John Barry
Cinematography Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing by Sean Barton
Conrad Buff
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) October 4, 1985
Running time 108 minutes
Country US
Language English
Budget $15,000,000
Box office $40,491,165

Jagged Edge (1985) is a film starring Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, and Peter Coyote. Robert Loggia received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film. It is a courtroom thriller, written by Joe Eszterhas, and directed by Richard Marquand. It became a box office hit.

Contents

Plot [edit]

An intruder in a black mask ties up San Francisco socialite Paige Forrester at her remote beach house and kills her with a hunting knife. He writes the word "Bitch" on the wall with her blood. Her husband Jack (Bridges) is arrested for her murder by Thomas Krasny (Coyote), a district attorney. Jack tries to hire high-profile lawyer Teddy Barnes (Close) to defend him. Barnes used to work for Krasny, and she is reluctant to take the case, as she stopped working in criminal law after an incident with Krasny.

Krasny runs into Barnes. He tells her that "Henry Styles hanged himself in his cell," which distresses her. Barnes visits Sam Ransom (Loggia), a private detective who used to work for Krasny's office as well. He stopped private investigations at the same time that Barnes left Krasny's office, and it becomes clear that the Styles case was the reason. Barnes decides to take the case.

While preparing for the trial, Barnes and Forrester spend a great deal of time together, and eventually end up having sex. Ransom warns Barnes that Forrester is just trying to make her care more about his case. She says, "I know that!"

Her office begins receiving anonymous typed letters that mention things about the case. All of the letter t's are slightly raised, and analysis determines that they were written on a 1942 Corona typewriter.

In a pre-trial meeting, Barnes tells the judge that Krasny has a history of not meeting his discovery obligations. The prosecution's case relies mainly on circumstantial evidence. A jilted woman claimed that Paige told her she was divorcing Jack, but Barnes discredits her with evidence, including a love letter, that her advances had been rejected by Jack, causing Paige to cut off all communication with her. The other main witness is a locker-room attendant at a private club who claims to have seen a hunting knife in Forrester's locker. Barnes proves that the knife was in another member's locker.

Krasny calls a witness who had an affair with Forrester. The details of her relationship with Forrester are eerily similar to the way he seduced Barnes. She threatens to drop the case. She only agrees to proceed out of a sense of duty, though she now believes that Forrester is guilty. Another note arrives at her office saying, "He is innocent. Santa Cruz. January 21, 1984. Ask Julie Jensen."

Barnes interviews Jensen, who testifies at the trial that she was attacked in the same manner as Paige Forrester. All the details match, but she says her attacker seemed to stop himself from killing her. As Krasny objects that the attack on Jensen is unrelated to the one on Forrester, he lets slip that his office had investigated the attack and not revealed it in discovery. In chambers, the judge threatens to have Krasny disbarred. Barnes once again believes Forrester is innocent. Krasny insists that Forrester staged the earlier attack in order to create an alibi of sorts for Paige's murder, which he had planned for eighteen months. Krasny also insists that Forrester has been sending Barnes the anonymous notes.

After Forrester is found not guilty, Barnes announces to the media that she left Krasny's office over the Henry Styles case, where Krasny suppressed evidence that proved Styles was innocent. Krasny walks off in disgust.

Barnes goes over to Forrester's house to celebrate, and they have sex again. In the morning, she discovers a Corona typewriter in his closet. She tests it, and the "t" is raised just as it was in the anonymous notes. She throws clothing over the typewriter and flees with it, pretending to Forrester that her little boy is sick.

When Forrester calls to ask after her child, she tells him that she found the typewriter. Forrester says he is baffled and that he is coming over. Barnes calls Ransom, breathless with fear and on the brink of telling him that Forrester is a killer, but instead hangs up. A masked figure breaks in and confronts her in her bedroom. As he starts to attack, Barnes throws back the covers to reveal her gun. She shoots him multiple times until he falls to the floor. Ransom comes in and unmasks the attacker: it is Forrester.

Derivatives [edit]

The AdultSwim show Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law episode 4 Death By Chocolate was based on Jagged Edge.

The Kannada film Antima Ghatta (1987) starring Shankar Nag, Urvashi and Tara, was directly based on Jagged Edge, including the typewriter with the raised 't' letter.

The 2001 Bollywood film Kasoor starring Aftab Shivdasani, Lisa Ray was also based on Jagged Edge .

Cast [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jagged Edge


Films directed by Richard Marquand
1970s
1980s
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