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From: brett@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Jagged Edge (short review)
Message-ID: <7069@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 10-Oct-85 20:47:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.7069
Posted: Thu Oct 10 20:47:58 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Oct-85 10:37:42 EDT
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 59

Jagged Edge reminds me of a Perry Mason episode.
A murder starts off the story, a helpless accused party
seeks out the attorney to defend him/her, an attorney
takes the case, the attorney and his/her assistant investigate
the case.  In Jagged Edge, Jeff Bridges stars as a husband
accused of murder; Glenn Close stars as the attorney who 
investigates Bridges' wife's murder.  Previews do well
to conceal the Perry Mason-like quality of the movie.

The movie has some fine performances, yet
it starts out slow after the murder scene.  I found myself
checking my watch midway through the movie.  Yet
since I've always found courtroom battles compelling -
I found Close's performance to be quite good as the
movie progressed.  I'm not sure this is academy quality
acting, but we do see Glenn Close in action.  Jeff Bridges
does OK, but does nothing to show me why I shouldn't be
on screen.  OK, so my father wasn't on screen, so I guess
it doesn't run in the family.

To take the analogy with Perry Mason a bit further, Jagged
Edge also has a prosecuting attorney who we grow to dislike.
In the Perry Mason episodes it was Hamilton Burger, in this
case we have an ex-colleague of Closes' from earlier in her
career.  The prosecutor provides the antogonist which stories 
like this need to focus the viewer's tensions in the courtroom.
Like Perry Mason, Close has an assistant (not named Paul Drake) 
which assists in the investigation.  

Unlike Perry Mason episodes, where we have a 
number of possible "suspects", Jagged Edge provides us 
with only two.  This limits the imagination we
as viewers are permitted to have to reason the murder out.
Unfortunately, the story "unfolds" so it is not a murder
mystery in the classical sense - rather it is more
episodic - that is the movie unveils the second suspect
towards the end of the courtroom battle.  So the viewer
has little to do throughout the movie but study the relationship
between Close and Bridges.  Unfortunately, for me, the relationship
was superficial - I wanted suspects and action and didn't get
that.  Oh, well.

In short, if you like Perry Mason-like genre this movie is
for you.  It is medium "quality".  On a scale from 1-10 (10 
being best) this movie gets a 6 or 7.  It's nothing great,
but not a serious disappointment either.  The ending 
of the movie is unusual.

-- 
Brett Fleisch
University of California Los Angeles
LOCUS Research Group
3804-f Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Phone: (213) 825-2756, (213) 474-5317 

brett@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
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