MovieChat Forums > Jagged Edge (1985) Discussion > Things Learned From Jagged Edge

Things Learned From Jagged Edge

posted 14 years ago by dcavalli
40 replies | jump to latest

1. If you're going to kill your wife, make it look like some *beep* Charlie Manson did it.

2. Jack Forrester is not a psychopath. He is an ICEMAN. He is a MONSTER.

3. Owning horses will help get you laid.

4. Mr. Fabrizi likes the fact that Jack is a hunter.

5. Jack and Bobby Slade have the same-shaped head, which contributed to the confusion at the end of who the real murderer is.

6. If you're going to send anonymous notes, make sure you use an old typewriter with a distinctive, identifiable flaw (the elevated t's).

7. Although you own a mansion, you make no effort to hide the typewriter and keep it where your lover/lawyer is likely to discover it.

8. If you plan on being a witness at a murder trial, never assume the defendant kept and will produce letters you sent him that will undermine your testimony.

9. Corporate lawyers can barely handle hearings.

10. Eliminate the last incriminating witness (who is terrified of you) the same way you dispatched your wife.

11. Elected District Attorneys personally try major murder cases. (They don't in real life.)

12. Always assume that when your lawyer/lover figures out that you're the murderer, she didn't tell anyone or won't be waiting with a gun.

13. When you feel dirty (from a betrayal) and in the emotional sense, take a shower.

14. Joe Ezsterhas' villains can pass lie detector tests. (See also "Basic Instinct.")

15. When committing crimes, always wear the exact same outfit (ski mask, black jacket, blue plastic gloves).

16. When you dump someone's ashes in the water, always throw a couple of roses. (So the police and press who may have you under surveillance will buy that you're a grieving husband.)

17. Altough Krasny knew about Julie Jensen, he suspects that Jack attacked her 18 months earlier only after Teddy calls her to the stand.

18. Jack admits that he had one-night stands to Teddy, but can't admit a longer affair.

19. Teddy carries an extra set of clothes with her for trial.

20. Always listen to your burned-out and cynical best friend and lead investigator.

[–] fallfrost 14 years ago

Love it!

[–] elysergooser 14 years ago

The caring supportive dreamboat of an ex husband will take the kids for the weekend so can you get it on with the defendant whose case you just won.

The PERFECT children love their PERFECT father. He is so PERFECT one wonders why she didn't stay with him but of course the narrative never lets us know why they divorced. Because he just seems so damned PERFECT!

Teddy Barnes, a seemingly ethical woman lets a guy rot for a crime he didn't do and only comes clean when he hangs himself.

She also has no problems boinking the client in his bedroom even though his wife was brutally murdered there a couple months ago.

The maid was just a maid so nobody cares that she died too. Just collateral damage.

He is innocent. Ask Julie Jensen. I am not writing on an old Corona so I can't raise my t's so you know I am not the real killer. I swear!

Glenn Close has real breasts.

Henry Styles has a rap sheet as long as Peter Coyote's dick.

Teddy Barnes will probably have to get her bedroom carpet cleaned at some point.

Sam Ransom needs some Orbit to clean his dirty mouth. Dirty mouth, Clean it up!

The housekeeper (the one who wasn't murdered) farts too much.

Bobby Slade is a slimeball.

You could get that rope at any Safeway.

One should stash the incriminating evidence under a bunch of towels instead of say, just throwing it out.

Horses are a form of foreplay for icemen.

The musical score was underrated. Ba JUM!!!!! Ba JUM!!!!!

[–] desertsonata 10 years ago

This was too good!

[–] kisskissbangbang44 14 years ago

16. When you dump someone's ashes in the water, always throw a couple of roses. (So the police and press who may have you under surveillance will buy that you're a grieving husband.)

I actually thought he was in some way grieving for the loss of his wife, it hadn't occoured to me that he might be being watched.

[–] dcavalli 14 years ago

That's my interpretation. Since he did it, why do that when he was alone unless he knew he suspected he was being followed by the police and the press to see if he dumps evidence and wanted to perform for them?

The other purpose of the scene is no doubt to confuse the audience, letting them think he was innocent and wrongly accused.

[–] kisskissbangbang44 14 years ago

The same goes for the scene in which he collapses on the bed in tears is so skill fully played by Bridges that he really does seem innocent.

[–] dcavalli 14 years ago

True. But looking back, that's the ONLY TIME he sheds any tears for her. In every other scene, he acts angry and annoyed (with the police and the DA--that he's suspected), friendly (with co-workers and with Teddy at first), and then happy (that he's found not guilty).

That scene in the bedroom was an act.

Someone who has lost a spouse (and an employee) in such a brutal manner would be screwed up for months and beyond. Yes, some move on but not in the way Forrester seems to do.

[–] kisskissbangbang44 14 years ago

That's an interesting point, interesting that no-one seems to comment on his behaviour. Especially not Kransky. A clue to the view that Forrester is not al that he seems to the viewer perhaps?

[–] ghfreak 14 years ago

Also,an innocent person would want the real killer to be found. Forrester is so busy claiming he's innocent that he never shows concern about capturing the killer who brutally murdered his wife.

[–] bruce73 13 years ago

Remind you of anyone in real life? LOL

[–] highschoolkiller 9 years ago

Remind you of anyone in real life? LOL you mean OJ??

I hated Jaws, it had too much shark, and dont get me started about King Kong, waaay too much gorilla

[–] Strazdamonas 13 years ago

Actually, he does. When he meets the lawyer for the first time he is on the phone telling somone that "since they blame me they are letting the real killer get away with it" in similar words. but thats the only scene.

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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good men to do nothing.

[–] gluserty 14 years ago

23. Forget about him, he's trash.

[–] Alfabeta 14 years ago

If you're a red herring, call the defense lawyer a bitch while testifying and make sure to threaten her for no reason.

If you're a screenwriter who needs to extend the use of your only red herring in the screenplay, make sure that him calling the defense lawyer a bitch in the open court and threatening her has no consequences whatsoever.

If you're a main character in a movie, you must help your screenwriter by not reporting a hostile witness who openly threatens you, so he can be free long enough to still act as a red herring when the killer is about to be unmasked.

If you want to show that your main character is a good person, make sure she has good hair, nice kids and an adorable old & wise foul-mouthed sidekick/patron. Her being a single mom with no babysitter even if she's not at home during most of the day also helps.

If you have a guilty conscience relieve it as melodramatically as possible to the press, not the cops.

If you are a playboy accused of murdering your wife, make sure that most of the witnesses are your or your wife's ex lovers and friends and not police or an expert. It adds the soap bubbles.

If a man has a knife that fits the murder weapon in a locker next to defendant's there is no way that they could both have such a knife even if there is a witness saying otherwise.

Most people have jagged edged hunting knives in their tennis club lockers. It's cool.

If your partner calls you in the evening, thanks you, and says that everything is just fine it means she's in danger.

If you call your partner in the evening, thank him, and say that everything is just fine, make sure you have an expression on your face like you've just joined a brainwashing cult so the audience knows that something's wrong.

[–] tornhill-1 14 years ago

LOL

[–] sburt4-831-484347 14 years ago

no trial for the maid. The maid is only a maid.

[–] dcavalli 14 years ago

Actually, he is on trial for both murders though the focus is on Mrs. Forrester. But your point is valid since we never learn anything much about her.

[–] GIRobotII 14 years ago

I have to agree with Dcavalli. They should have revealed more about the maid. And GHfreak, I also agree. If Forrester truly was innocent, he would not only been stressing his innocence, he'd also be demanding the real killer found.

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 11 years ago

If you're a red herring, call the defense lawyer a bitch while testifying and make sure to threaten her for no reason.

If you're a screenwriter who needs to extend the use of your only red herring in the screenplay, make sure that him calling the defense lawyer a bitch in the open court and threatening her has no consequences whatsoever.

If you're a main character in a movie, you must help your screenwriter by not reporting a hostile witness who openly threatens you, so he can be free long enough to still act as a red herring when the killer is about to be unmasked.

If you want to show that your main character is a good person, make sure she has good hair, nice kids and an adorable old & wise foul-mouthed sidekick/patron. Her being a single mom with no babysitter even if she's not at home during most of the day also helps.

If you have a guilty conscience relieve it as melodramatically as possible to the press, not the cops.

If you are a playboy accused of murdering your wife, make sure that most of the witnesses are your or your wife's ex lovers and friends and not police or an expert. It adds the soap bubbles.

If a man has a knife that fits the murder weapon in a locker next to defendant's there is no way that they could both have such a knife even if there is a witness saying otherwise.

Most people have jagged edged hunting knives in their tennis club lockers. It's cool.

If your partner calls you in the evening, thanks you, and says that everything is just fine it means she's in danger.

If you call your partner in the evening, thank him, and say that everything is just fine, make sure you have an expression on your face like you've just joined a brainwashing cult so the audience knows that something's wrong.

LMAOOO!!

"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.

[–] Chapter24 14 years ago

Defense Attorneys in high profile murder cases will play racquetball and go horseback riding with their clients.....

If you're an attorney in a high profile murder case and you're unsure what to do next, just wait for the inevitable anonymous note to point you in the right direction....

[–] cookiela2001 13 years ago

37.) When you're rich and scattering your wife's ashes over the side of your yacht, don't toss the urn they came in after them. You may need it again some day.

41.) Seasoned police detectives put their hands all over surfaces at a crime scene. They repeatedly touch staircase bannisters without wearing gloves, even though someone's busy dusting them for prints.

38.) You sleep till three in the afternoon after a good night of make-up sex.

39.) Someone doesn't realize it's their spouse of 10 years sitting on their chest and tying them to a bed. When you put on a mask, it erases all their familiarity with your weight, body movements, and smell, keeping you from asking what the hell they're up to.

40.) High priced lawyers will choose to get themselves disbarred, even though they're a single parent with 2 small children to support.

41.) Jack's breed of horse is the oldest equine species, the most beautiful, perfectly tempered. But look at their legs. They show how vulnerable we all are.

[–] jwalsh67 13 years ago

42) When you feel threatened by somebody, especially if you are female, it is always best to go home to your vacant house, strip naked, and take a shower. Calling the police is an overrated act.

He who conquers himself is mightier than he who conquers a city.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] toursiveu 13 years ago

59. Peter Coyote has a long dick. Apparently.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] geoffmss 13 years ago

The maid was deaf? Consuela Martinez was butchered in the next room but we see the murderer walk up the stairs. If I heard screams I wold have rushed upstairs but she didn't.

[–] denise1234 13 years ago

60. That almost everyone describing a serrated hunting knife in the movie will use the word ‘jag’ or ‘jagged’ to describe the serrated part of the blade.

61. That cranky old foul-mouthed private investigators drink Budweiser.

62. That prosecutors can remember the number of a case file several years later.

63. That jurors like blue suits.

64. That a clever sociopath who meticulously plans everything about the murder of his wife down to a tee several months prior is stupid enough to tell his former mistress the perfect motive for his later murdering his wife.

"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois

[–] saturn98 12 years ago

65. If a guy "allegedly" kills his wife, that means he's gonna get away with it.

[–] zensixties 11 years ago

66. If you don't help you kid with his homework it means you don't care about him.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood... (;-p)

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DrSamba 12 years ago

Check out the close-up in "The Big Chill" when she's washing the dishes and they're playing "I Second That Emotion".

Or this could just be my defective memory.

[–] Xcalat3 11 years ago

5. Jack and Bobby Slade have the same-shaped head, which contributed to the confusion at the end of who the real murderer is.

interesting.

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] wearetheborg-1 11 years ago

67. Whenever you talk about a serrated knife you always have to refer to it dramaticallly as a knife with a "jagged edge".

If you wear this afro, your punch will become stronger!

[–] kerprice 10 years ago

1. If you're suspected of murder, find a naive, sex-starved middle age divorced woman to defend you. (This only applies if you're rich and extremely good looking).

2. It's perfectly fine to start making out in the living room with potential murderer with your vulnerable young children in the house who are still traumatized from divorce with incredibly nice ex-husband.

[–] cookiela2001 10 years ago

Professionals, including District Attorneys, working a crime scene see nothing wrong with running their bare hands up and down handrails while using a staircase at a murder site, even when another officer is dusting it for prints.