Jaded

"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.

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).

"Jaded" offers a premise with potential as it looks at the rape of a woman by two other women and ask the question "when is rape not rape?". Unfortunately the flick seems to suffer from bad direction as it slogs through legal minutia while trying to weave some kind of story with a handful of foul mouthed and poorly portrayed characters only to end abruptly. "Jaded" is lame stuff only for the bleary-eyed couch potato in the mood for some dark drama.

Clearly a low-budget movie with minimal style. Since this is the case, one would hope for an abundance of substance to overcome to obvious lact of style. Sadly, this isn't the case. While the premise of the movie is interesting and deserves to be discussed (re: men are not the only ones capable of hurting another human being, all it takes is the right circumstances and the right (or wrong, actually) frame of mine for a heinous crime to be commited), but a leisurely-paced direction left a lot to be desired. Acting by all concern is one-note and not effective, though Gugino is possibly a standout (though not by much). This truly feels like a low-budget production, but that in itself is not an excuse for making a poor movie. I cannot stress enough that while the movie's pace is laborious (much to its detriment), this is not a bad thing, since Kubrick's movies are known for their slow pace. Yet, when the pacing is this laborious and what's happening onscreen is ineffective, this leaves the viewer to wonder what's on the other channel, which happens to me a few times.

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)