Jade (BD)

I have to admit, I wasn’t aware that William Friedkin directed “Jade” (1995) until I received the Blu-ray edition of this movie. Friedkin, after creating classics like “The French Connection” (1971) and “The Exorcist” (1973), had become something of a forgotten soul in the industry. With each effort, Friedkin’s movies rapidly degraded in quality. It does not come as a surprise that prerelease reviews for “Jade” were overwhelmingly negative, with many critics predicting it dead on arrival. Ensuing reviews did not help, and as a result “Jade” failed miserably at the box-office. Perhaps the movie got burned down under the weight of its expectations, since many critics anticipated it as a return of William Friedkin. After watching “Jade” for the review here at DVDTOWN, I can at least confess that the movie was mildly entertaining, although it is nowhere close to Friekdin’s best efforts.

“Jade” follows the familiar formula of Friedkin’s earlier cop movies, such as “The French Connection,” “Cruising” (1980), and “To Live and Die in L.A.” (1985), where sex, lies, deceit, double-crossing, and obsession are part of the daily chores. David Corelli (David Caruso) is an assistant district attorney, who is pursuing a killer who brutally murdered a millionaire. At the crime scene, he recovers photographs of a prominent political figure in compromising positions with a prostitute. Soon, his investigation leads him to the office of the governor (Richard Crenna), who threatens to stop the investigation. Along the way, Corelli suspects that her ex-lover, Katrina Gavin (Linda Fiorentino), who is now married to his longtime friend, Matt Gavin (Chazz Palminteri), is the killer after he discovers a sex-tape at the crime scene. As Corelli gets deeply involved in the case, he realizes that his life is in danger, which leads to a standoff with corrupt officials.

After watching “Jade,” it is hard not to draw comparisons to Friedkin’s earlier works. In fact, David Caruso’s character borrows certain elements from Gene Hackman’s portrayal of N.Y.C. cop Jimmy Doyle in “The French Connection” and William Petersen’s depiction of L.A. cop Richard Chance in “To Live and Die in L.A.” Caruso brings an intensity to the character of Corelli, who is obsessed with solving the case irrespective of the consequences, and his obsession takes him to unwanted places. Although Corelli is unwavering in his goal to find the perpetrators, his character is hardly original, particularly considering the number of cop shows that were airing on TV in the mid Nineties. Caruso, who played a cop in a popular series, “NYPD Blue,” banked on the success of this movie. Eventually, his hope of becoming a major star came crashing down when “Jade” flopped at the box office.

The problem in the story and its character arises due to an over-cooked, sex-themed script. The movie was written by Joe Eszterhas, who also wrote “Basic Instinct” (1992) and “Showgirls” (1995), and who by then had supposedly become an expert in drafting sexual situations in every movie he wrote. It appeared that the writer was continuing his work where he left off in “Basic Instinct.” The femme fatale, this time played by Linda Fiorentino, is nowhere as menacing or sexy as Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct.” However, even with this, Fiorentino aptly displays the ambivalence that existed between her marriage and her dark, hidden side. Nonetheless, I liked her character for its simplicity and the fact she didn’t try to match the character of Catherine Tramell in “Basic Instinct.” Having said this, “Jade” is filled with unwarranted sexual innuendoes that do not do much to excite one. In addition, the script limps from one subplot to another, which results in the story dragging in certain parts.

Nevertheless, “Jade” still has plenty of excitement in the form of long car chases that have become a trademark style of Friedkin. Similar to what he did in “The French Connection” and “To Live and Die in L.A.,” Friedkin employs an abundance of quick-editing techniques. The chase will probably leave you glued to your TV set, and it is done perfectly. Unfortunately, none of this saves “Jade” from its poorly developed characters and patchy story line.

Video:
Lionsgate presents this movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded on Blu-ray in an AVC format. The transfer for most part is drab looking and inconsistent. The opening segments are sharp, but as the movie progresses, the transfer is marred by softness and lack in detail. Again, this varies from scene-to-scene. In the nighttime scenes the grain is evident and sharpness goes down, but then the next scene will show signs of a good transfer. Overall, this is an average-looking transfer of a catalogue title.

Audio:
We get a 5.1 DTS HD-Master Audio track for this release. The dialogue is clear for most part. The rear channels kick in during the chase scene and in the climax. However, the soundtrack is a bit flat, which is noticeable in gunshots that are loud but lack punch. The movie can also be viewed with English and Spanish subtitles.

Extras:
There are no extras included on this Blu-ray release, apart from the movie’s original theatrical trailer.

Parting Thoughts:
With its sex-dripping script, “Jade” scores on only a few occasions in the storytelling department. Some of the characters are contrived, and they never leave any impression on the audience. However, “Jade” provides some entertaining action in car chases and gun fights. It is too bad that William Friedkin’s name is associated with the movie.

Ratings:
Video = 6/10
Audio = 6/10
Extras = 0/10
Movie Rating = 6/10