Jade

I remember renting this on VHS not too long back and since it was coming on Encore Drama decided to give it another look. This was a late night viewing of the film, and I must admit I found myself engrossed. I’m an admitted Friedkin fanboy, so I will obviously even take up for the (mediocre compared to his rather impressive body of work) lesser films in his filmography, with Jade (1995) brought up by even his supporters as perhaps one of his worst. I have to say I liked it. Man, does Joe Eszterhas’ script lay on the sleaze, though. I even laughed at how the film paints the alluring Linda Fiorentino as this nympho  who bangs the wealthy for kicks, going by her alter ego as “Jade”, so desired by many (including Richard Crenna’s California Governor!) because she likes getting it anally. The film establishes at a ball, right out of the chute, that both Assistant DA of San Francisco, David Corelli (David Caruso) and high-powered (and extremely full of himself) attorney, Matt Gavin (Chazz Palminteri, laying on the smug something fierce; he’s a real douchebag) are in love with Trina (Fiorentino), fighting over who can dance with her. Corelli gets called to a nasty crime scene for this art collector who has been savagely murdered; this is a crime of obliteration and rage. Trina had met with this dead man earlier in the day just prior to his murder, and it is later determined she was shagging him as Jade. The murder victim, as Corelli scans the crime scene, has containers labeled by women who supplied him pubic hair, his “sexual conquests” so to speak. The Chinese symbol on one of the containers is for Jade, and this is what kind of jump starts Corelli’s eventual investigation towards Trina. 

Trina’s sexual exploits come under serious scrutiny, particularly when a rather heavily damaged video recording has her fucking a man, soon shown even to her husband, Matt by the SF detectives working the case. When photographs found at the home of the murder victim (the crime scene) contain the governor, Corelli comes under fire by his superiors, even attempting to remove him from the investigation because he isn’t easily persuaded just to hand over the evidence and look the other way. Anyone that has seen Crenna in times past knows he can play corrupt and intimidating effectively. He stares at Corelli (who stands his ground), warning him to tread lightly, and this standoff will have reverberations as the film progresses. Angie Everhart, and that bright red mane, shows up as one of the girls who likes to use a “fuckhouse” to record paying customers, eventually getting plowed over by a black Thunderbird that results in the film’s major car chase through the streets of San Francisco as Corelli follows after the killer, hoping to capture him/her. That chase, if anything, makes Jade essential viewing for Friedkin fans who need their vehicular speeds through cluttered highways and streets, with cars dodging certain damage and a Chinese parade of celebrators trying to avoid getting run over (and plenty of them letting out their anger on the two cars; the killer’s and Corelli’s as he has to follow suit). The subject matter is quintessential Eszterhas: the emphasis in dialogue, characterization, and plot development centers on how sex results in violence. The photographs are highly sought after and perhaps could (or could not) have something to do with the murder (s). Jade’s inclusion in the plot seems very red herring. She owns a black Thunderbird, had the convenience of being one of the last to see the murdered man alive, and she just flat lies to Corelli and the police regarding how “close” she was to the dead victim. Chazz seems an obvious a suspect just because he has that suspicious face (the kind of gangster’s mug you just want to slug) and demeanor. He’s the kind of attorney who knows all the ways to use the law to get cretins off the hook so he can afford the luxuries (the mansion, the Hollywood interior decoration, and Fiorentino) that come with the clients he represents. I liked how every scene he shares with “pal” Caruso has this seething underbelly of tension that seems to pervasively permeate in conversations. They seem to compete yet do appear to like each other regardless of the differences in how they represent the law. Polar opposites who respect each other but knowingly share the same attraction for Fiorentino. Look at how different they are. Corelli seems to be a relatively honest, hard-working cop, trying to keep his friends distanced as much as he can from the murder, yet when it appears Trina is too close to the top of the suspect list he must do what is necessary as the badge requires. He doesn’t live a life of luxury, isn’t equipped with the kind of money and prestige that his buddy does. I like these contrasts and how Trina comes between both men throughout.

There’s a particular scene I find fascinating in regards to Trina’s reaction to a sexual encounter with Matt as he pounds away, a tear trickles and she shows pain. Why does Trina react so agonizingly to Matt taking it to her no differently than any of the johns she had secret rendezvous with? Maybe it was the fact that it was Matt instead of “just some other guy’’? There’s an interesting dynamic, I thought, to this marriage, to this relationship; perhaps there’s a lot of underlying dissension that could surface if the right event provoked it from dormancy? I can see why Trina might want to pursue other men when she’s stuck with this prick at home all the time. He gives her plenty of bling, no doubt, but where is the affection and tenderness? Not Matt. No sir. Over the year I have become a major fan of CSI: Miami, and it was cool seeing the firstfruits of how Horatio Caine would be performed by Caruso on that show for ten years, present in his ADA in Jade. Like how Corelli shows up at the crime scene handing out orders, checking out the evidence, totally in command/control, aware and astute at the details that might appear little but offer significant substance to the investigation. Poor Michael Biehn. He will always have a “cool card” with those of us who consider him an icon in action fare such as The Terminator & Aliens. That said, when he is in movies like Jade, Biehn couldn’t look more suspicious unless the word “SUSPECT” was printed in needlework on his forehead. He is one of the cops in the investigation, and Corelli sees him talking with the California Governor’s Yes Man (Holt McCallany, who would later have a recurring cop role on CSI: Miami). And, yep, Biehn factors into the conclusion as a major scuffle ensues and guns fire off inside Matt’s mansion with Trina caught in the middle. I think, if used against him, Friedkin has more than made up for Jade in recent years with his highly acclaimed Bug (2006), with Ashley Judd (which I didn’t like because the characters annoyed me), and Killer Joe (2011) with Matthew McConaughey (which is one of  my favorite films of the last ten years). He also made The Hunted (2003) which was rather awesome; if you like seeing your stars really physically into the roles, presenting hand-to-hand combat at the end that looks quite realistic (it really is off the charts, if the results are a bit unrealistic (I can’t imagine anyone who sustains the stab wounds Tommy Lee Jones endures could come out so okay)), then that movie won’t disappoint. Friedkin has this film with a script that comes from the screenwriter of Showgirls, where provocative behavior is the norm and the machinations of sex within the material are vital and necessary. I have to say that at least Jade isn’t boring, and the cast held my interest. Caruso took a hit on his rep because he left the show NYPD Blue for the movies, returning to the television medium after (supposedly, if you ask his critics) being humbled by a lack of success.  I say watch Proof of Life (2000) and return to tell me it was a total waste. Well, maybe the movie wasn’t so earth-shattering, but that wasn’t Caruso’s fault.