Jaded

Jaded starts out strong, but loses steam quickly and trails off into nothing. It raises a lot of interesting issues and then does nothing with them. Omitting the court scene at the end could be forgivable but leaving several loose ends without resolution was unsettling at best. Although for the most part those threads (such as what exactly the customers in the bar were paying $500 for) have fairly obvious conclusions, leaving them hanging in the air in that way robbed this movie of a satisfying conclusion. As it is it almost seems as if they ran out of money to film the courtroom scene and thus made a movie out of the investigation and then just tacked on a ending.

The low budget for this film was painfully apparent - it seems almost like a student film. I've seen better production values in porno. Which is puzzling since for the most part the actors involved are professionals that are recognizable from more superior efforts (such as Aida Turturro from the Sopranos). Along with any sense of flow, the director failed to elicit good performances from her actors that we know can do better, with the exception of Carla Gugino, who seemed to be acting in a different film with the intensity that she brought to her performance. She was unfortunately the only thing enjoyable about this movie with a strong premise but no follow through.

And shame on whoever commented that Carla was chunky - do women have to be anorexics with stick arms and legs to be acceptable? She's a gorgeous young woman and those kinds of comments are just ridiculous.

Caryn Krooth is an interesting director. But I think she was confused whether to make a sleazy lesbian thriller or a film that about the limitations of rape laws or a police procedural. Carla Gugino is great eye candy. So are the other females including the rather corpulent investigator (Aida Turturro) who always wears low cut dresses. The threesome lesbian skinny dipping that leads to rape is very well shot. Rya Kihlstedtthere is excellent as the vicious lesbian. She really pulled off the role well with the great introduction scene at the bar. Catherine Dent was pretty and I could sense a hint of sexual tension between her and Turturro. But the sexual tension was not well developed. There are certain arty farty student aspects to the film. But overall, i liked it. It does not really work as a mystery/police procedural. But it is a nice little unique film with a great Carla Gugino, set in a sleepy beach town.

(7.5/10)

"Jaded" should not be considered as en erotic thriller because the sex scenes are not for viewing pleasure unlike movies like "Indecent Behavior" or "Friend Of The Family".

"Jaded" is not an easy watch as it's story is difficult to conceive and it's not that common in society. From the beginning of the movie, with the first scene, you expect more strong scenes.

The raping scene wasn't (in my opinion) a well created scene. I think that the director didn't use proper camera techniques overall in the movie. That's why it looks sometimes dull and becomes boring almost near the end.

The performances are extremely good from all the five female characters. These women gave strong, intense, but believable performances that demonstrate the actresses' dramatic abilities.

The legal concepts helped a lot to understand the plot's difficulty because the legal term of sodomy is different from a simple raping. From the point of view of Meg's defense, sodomy needs to be penalized as a raping (a huge crime grade B) although it's a different crime. Pat and Alex's defense claims that Meg enjoyed and asked for it. This is where the movie turns interesting to see who is trying to tell the truth. The only thing for sure is that the sex scene fits into a legal definition of a crime.

Watch "Jaded" if you like legal issues that aren't very common in your society. If not, give it a try because it's a very good and strong drama.

"Jaded" takes on the complex question of abuse: the perpetrators and the victims. In lesser hands it would have degenerated into an erotic thriller made for direct-to-video. This director, however, has managed to pull off a textured multi-layered study with a decidedly different point of view.

Given the fact that the director/writer is a woman and the main detective and D.A. are also women, this could have turned into a very anti-male film. It is not. To be a sexual predator IS gender neutral. The nudity of this film is not erotic. The rape is brutal not sexual. We are looking at victims and not titillation.

The gifted cast rings true. For a film that is so little known, I was surprised at the quality of the performances. They are good. Carla Gugino and Rya Kihlstedt are incredible.

Somehow, this film got lost. Perhaps it is too smart for its own good. It is a "should see". Highly recommend. A thinking person's sexual thriller.

A young and naive lady (Carla Gugino) gets brutally beaten and raped by two crazed women (Rya Kihlstedt and Anna Levine) during a late, drunken night on the beach. Naturally Gugino is distraught beyond comprehension, while the two others (Kihlstedt in particular) vehemently question Gugino's memory and her motives. "Jaded" is a really ugly movie that I had lots of trouble sitting through. The mature themes are one thing, but the lack of credible performers and a really crazed and demented story turn the picture into a terrible exploitation flick that has no value at all. The trio of female leads prove that they cannot handle the material and end up appearing more like spoiled adolescents than complex adult figures. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).