Jade (1995)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
David Corelli	David Caruso	½
Katrina Gavin/Jade	Linda Fiorentino
Matt Gavin	Chazz Palminteri	½
Gobernor Lew Edwards	Richard Crenna
Bob Hargrove	Michael Biehn	½
Karen Heller	Donna Murphy	-
Petey Vesko	Ken King	½
Patrice Jacinto	Angie Everhart	-

Review

This unanimously panned film in the erotic thriller sub-genre marked both the beginning and the end of David Caruso's career as a leading man in feature films, and turned out to be among director William Friedkin's biggest commercial flops. There's no doubt that this is a flawed film with a cluttered Joe Eszterhas script that doesn't really hold up, but it's a lot better than its reputation would suggest. Friedkin himself was saddened by the film's lack of success, citing it as his favourite movie. And one can see why, because there are some portions of crisp filmmaking in here which are as edgy and emphatic as Friedkin was in his New Hollywood films of the 1970s, such as The French Connection. In particular, there's a car chase segment which stands out, directed with an old-fashioned craftsmanship that makes most of today's modern action sequences look inorganic. For as long as he is able to veil the script's obvious plot holes, Friedkin along with an industrious and fairly believable David Caruso make this an enjoyable thriller.