I Got a Rock

A wealthy businessman is murdered and it somehow involves boutique prostitutes and a whole lot of ornate decor in 1995's Jade. It's not a boring movie. I quite enjoyed it though, apart from a terrific car chase, I suspect the film's appeal lies more in campiness than its filmmakers intended.

Director William Friedkin was really proud of this movie but he seems to be in the minority. Michael Biehn, who had a supporting role, called the screenplay by Joe Eszterhas "a mess". Eszterhas was so upset by the extent of the changes Friedkin made to the story that he almost had his name taken off of the film.

The cast is entirely c list, headed by David Caruso as a detective investigating the murder and Linda Fiorentino as a psychologist who has a secret life as the sexually adventurous "Jade". If I had to pick one, I'd say Fiorentino's casting is the primary flaw in this deeply flawed film. She's meant to be playing an intensely seductive, sexually voracious mystery woman. Fiorentino was unwilling to be naked, necessitating the copious, obvious use of body doubles. She was unwilling to even take the role until it was made clear that her character was not a prostitute. Fiorentino, with her monotone delivery, is about as alluring as an iron ingot.

The film is set in San Francisco, a location famed for its car chases in various films. There's a scene in this one in which Caruso's brakes have been cut and he's forced to try to control his car as it goes down the city's famous hillside roads. 1951's House on Telegraph Hill, which I watched recently, has almost exactly the same scene.

Then there's a fantastic car chase in which Friedkin seems to be trying to outdo Bullitt. He doesn't accomplish that but it's a damned impressive sequence, starting with Angie Everhart convincingly being hit by a Ford Thunderbird. Caruso pursues the car down those wavy streets, down grassy hillsides, through a Chinatown parade, and finally out at the docks. There's some incredible stuntwork.

The film ends oddly abruptly with the reveal of a secondary villain. We're left knowing Caruso has one clue to this villain's identity but the film, I guess, decides we don't need to know if he ultimately succeeds in his investigation.

The film's score is by James Horner but you don't hear much of Horner's work. Mostly you hear Loreena McKennitt's "Mystic's Dream" over and over. One long sequence just uses Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring".

Jade is available on The Criterion Channel.

X Sonnet #1839

Suspicious choices tripped the tightened string.
Alarms were hid within the violin.
Assembled cops commenced to end a sting.
Disarmed, the thugs subside to ride a tide.
Corrosive jobs in conscience make a crow.
Embittered prey conveyed the way ahead.
Aggressive blades obeisance made below.
Determined wolves know hooves behoove the dead.
Tenacious cars debarred heroic men.
Confusing plots were thought the blot of art.
Ambitious dames defamed angelic sin.
Barbaric broads applaud the oddly tart.
Renewing fires tries the blighted pan.
Recumbent dusk has crushed the lusty ram.