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Jade
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Lionsgate Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (8th May 2010). |
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The Film
 Though it can be argued whether or not William Friedkin’s “Jade” (1995) is or isn’t a good film (though the consensus is that it most certainly is not), what can’t be argued is that it will likely be best remembered as the film which promptly sank star David Caruso’s dreams of becoming a leading man. Many will recall that Caruso had a cushy, high-profile gig on “NYPD Blue” (1993-2005), where he managed to take home a Golden Globe for his role as Detective John Kelly. Looking to capitalize on his sudden rush of fame (which, no doubt, got to his head), he left the show four episodes into the second season to pursue a career in feature films. However, the failure of “Jade”, and that year’s other misfire, “Kiss of Death” (1995), all but ensured he wouldn’t be working on the silver screen again. In fact, the toxic reception both films received kept him from working for two years straight. But I digress, the point is that this film tends to be overshadowed as his lame duck, and less as a taut thriller directed by one of the most interesting filmmakers of the 1970’s, William Friedkin. As it turns out, the finished product isn’t nearly as bad as critics declared it, though it’s still a long ways off from being a great, or even good, movie. After a local philanthropist is found murdered and brutally mutilated with one of his own antique hatchets, Detective David Corelli (David Caruso) is called in to investigate. The deeper he gets into the case, the more apparent it becomes that his old friend, a well-respected criminal attorney, Matt Gavin (Chazz Palminteri), and his psychologist wife, Katrina Gavin (Linda Fiorentino), may have had some involvement in the slaying. But the closer David comes to discovering the truth, the closer he also comes to losing his own life. You know, reading that brief synopsis almost makes me laugh. The movie is literally as simplistic as it sounds on paper. The issue is that, although Friedkin has acknowledged that he rewrote a large portion of Joe Eszterhas’ script, the film still comes across as an inferior clone of “Basic Instinct” (1992). In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that’s how the film was sold to everyone from the financers and distributors right on down to the actors being cast. It follows an extremely similar premise, and even some of the events which take place within the film are eerily mirrored. But Linda Fiorentino is no Sharon Stone, and David Caruso is definitely no Michael Douglas. Whereas “Basic Instinct” had some greater name recognition, drew major controversy from lesbian & gay rights groups, and featured the most memorable interrogation scene in movie history, this film had nothing of note aside from being hotshot TV star Caruso’s first high-profile gig. One which, as noted, went down in flames. It’s a shame that the film became notorious as Caruso’s flop, though, because when you take him out of the equation you’ve got a relatively solid supporting cast chewing their way through the running time. Well, ok, take out Linda Fiorentino, too. She has a tendency to display the emotional range of a robot, and her monotonous delivery does little to make her seem even slightly interested in any role she plays. But check out who gets left on the backburner when this film is discussed: Chazz Palminteri, Michael Biehn, Richard Crenna, and even Angie Everhart turns up to give a decent performance. Although, that could just be because I expected so little out of her. Palminteri, who was phenomenal in Robert De Niro’s “A Bronx Tale” (1993), can always be counted on to give 110% in any role he’s given. The man displays such a level of intensity that he can elevate any performance to loftier heights than most. The same thing can be said of Michael Biehn. Genre fans should already be familiar with his roles in some of James Cameron’s early sci-fi films, like his iconic turn as Kyle Reese in “The Terminator” (1984), but here he plays a tough-as-nails detective who eventually displays some questionable motives later in the film. I haven’t seen him in a substantial role in some time, so it was great fun watching him sink his teeth into this one. And I don’t need to say much about Richard Crenna, he lends the film some much needed gravitas in his limited role. After the theatrical run, the film was released on VHS in an "Unrated" form containing an additional 12 minutes of footage. For whatever reason, that cut has not been released on any next-gen formats since. The original DVD release contained the 95-minute "Theatrical" version, the same one that appears here on the Blu-ray. Some quick internet research has revealed that, although most of the additional footage inserted some extra steam in the sex scenes, it did feature an extension to the current ending (which is rather ambiguous) which would have drastically altered the final tone. I’m not sure why the "Unrated" cut wasn’t included here. Friedkin is notoriously protective of his films, so I’m amazed he didn’t request to supervise the high-definition release. This package would have greatly benefited from the longer cut, maybe a commentary track as well. Considering the history the film has, most notably the extensive rewrites, it would have been a wonderful inclusion.
Video
Most of the reviews I’ve seen online for “Jade” have spoken lengths about the poor nature of the image presented on Blu-ray, but I didn’t find the 1.78:1 (slightly opened up from the theatrical ratio of 1.85:1) 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image to be as terrible as I expected. Film grain is ever-present, but anyone familiar with Friedkin’s films knows to expect this going in, as he’s a staunch advocate of preserving it within his pictures. The image never has much “pop” to it, but the picture does retain a sharpness that likely surpasses the DVD in every way. The low-lighting, courtesy of cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak, doesn’t leave much room for fine detail to be evident, but I’d rather the lighting be the culprit of that offense than some digital manipulation like DNR. There is often a hazy, smoky look to many of the scenes, but the film always has the look of a more resolute image than standard definition. The only problem scenes I noted were during the film’s climax, when the blue-hued image, which takes place during the pitch black of night, appeared to be plagued with so much grain that it became a slight nuisance.
Audio
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track mixed at 48Khz/24-bit isn’t too engaging in terms of sound design. Most erotic thrillers aren’t, really. James Horner’s score is mostly a subdued track, but there are sporadic moments when it fills itself out via the rear speakers. There are also a few moments when street chatter, sound effects and the most riveting car chase featuring a Ford Taurus give the track a little more life. There isn’t much activity for the LFE track; even the car chase and some subsequent shootouts don’t pack much of a punch. But, much like the average video quality, this matches up well with what we’re given. Subtitles are available in English, English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
We get… drum roll, please…. a trailer! Yep, that’s it. The film’s theatrical trailer (480i) runs for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The disc’s menu is preceded by a bonus trailer for "Lionsgate Blu-ray" (for some of their recent budget titles) which runs for 1 minute and 1 second.
Overall
It might not be as thrilling, or interesting, or well-cast, or… hell, it isn’t “Basic Instinct”, ok? But it’s a reasonably well-made erotic thriller, even if it is full of holes, gaps in logic and features a leading man who is far less interesting than everyone else around him. But if you’re a fan of this particular subgenre, you could do a lot worse. The video quality, much like the audio quality, is lacking. Maybe one day Friedkin will see fit to revisit this title in an effort to give it a proper release. The lack of extras doesn’t do much to entice even casual fans to upgrade their current DVD, or to purchase it for the first time.
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