The Knife (1985)

Movie
German title	The knife
Original title	Jagged Edge
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1985
length	108 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Richard Marquand
script	Joe Eszterhas
production	Martin Ransohoff
music	John Barry
camera	Matthew F. Leonetti
cut	Sean Barton
occupation
Glenn Close : Teddy Barnes Jeff Bridges : Jack Forrester Peter Coyote : Thomas Krasny Lance Henriksen : Frank Martin Robert Loggia : Sam Ransom Leigh Taylor-Young : Virginia Howell Maria Mayenzet : Page Forrester Dave Austin : Cop Richard Partlow : Policeman William Allen Young : Greg Arnold Ben Hammer : Dr. Goldman James Karen : Andrew Hardesty Sanford Jensen : Scott Talbot Woody Eney : Austin Lofton Al Ruscio : Carl Siegal Sharon Hanian : Assistant DA Sarah Cunningham : First Judge John Dehner : Judge Carrigan

The knife (original title Jagged Edge ) is an American court thriller from 1985 . Directed by Richard Marquand , based on the script by Joe Eszterhas .

action

A woman and a domestic servant are murdered by a masked burglar with a hunting knife (Buck 119 Special). After the crime, the husband, the editor-in-chief Jack Forrester, is charged with the murder of his wife. The defense takes over the lawyer Teddy Barnes, who had actually withdrawn from criminal cases. Although she gradually doubts her client's innocence, she begins an affair with Forrester. It comes to the court hearing, at which various witnesses are called, where it becomes clear that Jack and his wife did not have a model marriage. During the trial, anonymous letters claiming Jack's innocence keep appearing in Teddy's office. They were written on an old Smith Corona typewriter with an incorrectly superscripted “t”. Forrester has a motive (he is the sole heir to her property after the death of his wife), and he has no alibi, but the weapon is missing, and Teddy can raise doubts about the credibility of the witnesses, which is why the trial ends with an acquittal.

After the trial, Jack and Teddy drive to the Forresters' summer home and spend the night together. Teddy wakes up very late and looks for fresh bed linen. The whole pile falls out of the cupboard. A typewriter from the company "Smith Corona" is hidden behind it. Teddy is shocked and immediately tests the typewriter for the "t". It is the same typewriter on which the anonymous letters were written. Teddy realizes that Jack is his wife's murderer and that he wrote the letters himself. She takes the typewriter and leaves Jack under the pretext that her son is not doing well. When Jack calls her in the evening and Teddy tells him that she found out that he is the murderer, he looks for her masked and hooded and wants to kill her with the knife too. Teddy shoots him.

Reviews

source	rating
Rotten tomatoes
critic
audience
IMDb

“A thriller that continuously describes the background of a murder case in an exciting way; through appealing acting, camera work and montage above the genre's average. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

Robert Loggia was nominated for an Oscar in 1986.

Web links

• The knife in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The knife atRotten Tomatoes(English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Knife in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on October 30, 2011
2. ↑ ^{a b} [1] at Rotten Tomatoes , accessed on March 6, 2015
3. ↑ The knife in the Internet Movie Database (English)