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In 1995 I and my buddy Sean must have been the only people to have seen this movie in the theatres. I enjoyed it. Like Body of Evidence and Basic Instinct, it reveled in the sexual depravity that exists among those of the upper classes; and like one of the leads says, "money, power and sex are what men crave more than anything." That is a paraphrase. My quotes will come later.
Jade is a movie that could have been better, but still packs a punch. Gene Siskel said it was the worst movie of 1995. He seemed offended about the freaky sex that was exhibited in the movie (Never Mind That There Are People Like That In The World Who Live Douyble Lives. We Don't Live In Afghanistan). Ironically, his cohost Roger Ebert, while giving it a thumbs down, did not think it was as bad as Siskel described. Leonard Maltin gave it Two Stars out of Four.
After a millionaire named Kyle Medford is murdured, suspicion falls on Katrina Gavin, wife of a powerful defense attorney named Matt Gavin. Her fingerprints were found on the hatchett murder weapon. In the ensuing investigation, it is discovered that Medford had incriminating photographs of the governor having sex with a prostitute named Patrice Jacincto (Played By The Gorgeous Angie Everhart). The governor, played by Richard Crenna, is aghast at the pictures and demands them from David Corelli. Corelli refuses, and there is subsequently an attempt made on his life. The attempt fails, but Corelli gets closer to solving the puzzle when a partially destroyed mini-DV tape is fished out of the late Kyle Medford's summer home. The tape shows Katrina Gavin having wild sex with Kyle Medford!! Shortly after this revelation, Patrice Jacincto is slain by a hit and run driver, who David Corelli attempts to pursue, but loses after he himself is again in a car accident, this time thrown over a pier. Again he barely escapes with his life.
When confronted with the evidence, a visibly shaken Katrina admits to the affair but denies involvement with the murder. The movie culminates with a fight and shootout at the Gavin home where two dirty cops are slain and the shifty governor's aid barely escapes capture himself. In the very end of the movie Corelli meets with the governor and leverages Katrina's safety with the photographs he has of the governor sexing with a prostitute. Presumably it was these cops who slew Patrice Jacincto, (Under Orders From Governor Edwards?) yet there is an interesting plot twist at the very end of the movie that worked quite well for me. I will not reveal it here.
This movie, like Body Double, Body of Evidence and Basic Instinct was controversial at the time of its release. Despite the controversy, I quite liked the movie. The sex did not bother me and even then there was very little of it. One of my favorite scenes is where the governor is confronting David Corelli. The governor says: "If you drag me into this business, David... if my name even shows up on the periphery of this David, you better get the f*#! out of the state of California, because you'll have as much of a future here as Jerry Brown!" To which David Corelli responds: "Who's Jerry Brown?" The irony of ironies is that Jerry Brown's future was nothing but hopeless! He was elected to two terms as mayor of Oakland and (As Of This Writing) a third term as governor of California in 2010! Governor Edwards in must have himself gone down after only one term. His lack of precognition and stupidity for being caught with a hooker shows how out of touch the man was.
Another funny quote is when the mini-DV tape is being reconstructed and run. There we have the three investigators saying: "At least it's not the governor again." "Or the president," Hargrove (Biehn) says. "Oh thank God, I can still believe in a place called hope!" the overweight cop says this with flippancy. Yet of course his rhetorical statement would in real life become true irony, as President Clinton would become embroiled in his own sex scandal. These quotes give Jade a realism that makes it relevant to today's audience. Unfortunately it is a movie that has largely been forgotten.
I'm so glad to see that it has been reissued in limited print on DVD. As of last year this time the prices were sky high going at $49.99 per DVD. The new reissued DVDs have lowered the prices on Amazon which means I will buy the movie for the first time on DVD. Unfortunately the unrated copy has not been issued on DVD. Why I don't know. According to Wikipedia it is because of poor sales of the VHS that was released. So on last year I bought a brand new copy of Jade on VHS (More Reason Why You Should Hang On To Your VCRs!). I have yet to view it, as what I'm reviewing here is the version I taped from cable in the 1990s. I believe that's the theatrical version that was broadcast on cable. As a result, I will have to view the actual VHS tape I bought to compare notes while the movie is still fresh in my mind.
I give this film Four and a Half Stars. If you liked Sliver or Basic Instinct or Body of Evidence or Body Double or Body Heat, you may very well like this movie. True, there are a few plotholes in the movie (Like Who Killed The Nosy Nighbor Justin Henderson?) that can be presumed from common sense, but only the astute and intelligent will figure this out (The Movie Makes You Think); otherwise, as I said, if you like this type of genre you will be pleased. Buy it and find out if you like it. The price is now more than affordable. I'm the 23rd person to give it a Five Star rate and the 56th person overall to rate it.
A. Nathaniel Wallace, Jr.
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