Jade Movie Review

A few short weeks ago I posed the question, "What is Joe Eszterhas going to do next (after Showgirls)?" Well, this is it, and it ain't Disneyland: Jade, a horrid little thriller about a whole bunch of obsessive-compulsive crazies, some of whom may be murderers.

Actually, I wish it was that simple. Perennial bad-girl Linda Fiorentino plays Trina Gavin, a sultry psychologist with a questionable past. Chazz Palminteri is her sicko attorney husband Matt, and David Caruso plays assistant D.A. David Corelli, who is assigned to look into the murder of a wealthy art collector to whom everyone seems to be linked...especially Trina.

What follows is a convoluted delving into a prostitution ring, one backstabbing after another, some raunchy sex, and a whole slew of sick obsessions, each of which seems to outdo the last one. You realize pretty quickly that no one is innocent in Jade, and it soon becomes clear that the identity of the real killer is unimportant--all of these people should be locked up.

A bunch of annoying characters combined with a bad script conspire to give us a thriller that isn't particularly thrilling. Except for one awesome car chase through the hilly streets of San Francisco and through a parade in Chinatown, there's very little to redeem this feature. Director William Friedkin previously won a slew of awards for directing The French Connection, and seems to have found his calling in car chases. Unfortunately, Connection was made in 1971, and while Friedkin's direction still has style, it ain't what it used to be.

It's really a shame that a cast of genuinely great actors would get together and star in such a poor film. Palminteri looks simply ragged in Jade, obviously not happy to be there. Even supermodel Angie Everhart, in her motion picture debut, is wasted--spending her entire screen time being chased and beaten up.

It's funny. That's how I felt.