The Edge

Tags

1990's, Action, Adventure, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Elle MacPherson, Harold Perrineau, Lee Tamahori, The Edge, Thriller

Film Title

The Edge

Director

Lee Tamahori

Starring

• Anthony Hopkins as Charles Morse
• Alec Baldwin as Bob Green
• Harold Perrineau as Stephen
• Elle MacPherson as Mickey Morse

An exciting adventure thriller that wisely eschews the desire to be just about non-stop action, The Edge keeps interest throughout thanks to a cool script and good acting from the leads of Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. It isn’t the kind of film that is going to garner awards, but it is still entertaining and has some welcome changes to what we have come to expect.

Billionaire Charles Morse accompanies his much younger model wife Mickey on a photo expedition to Alaska. Also along for the shoot is fashion photographer Bob Green. Charles is a quiet and introspective man who reads a lot and has a very good memory. Lately, he has come to believe that his beautiful wife may be straying with the slightly arrogant Bob. He can’t prove this, but it does bother him. So when Bob wants to employ the services of a local man and persuades Charles to come with him and his assistant Stephen, it seems strange that he should go. Though edgy as he suspects Bob of coveting his wife, Charles goes along anyway, if anything it seems to confirm suspicion. Yet when they can’t find the man, they search around for him among the huge wilderness. This is cut short as the plane crashes into the wilderness, killing the pilot. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, the three men make a stab at returning to safety, which is thwarted by death traps and power of nature. Soon enough, unprepared Stephen is killed by an enormous bear that is stalking them. Left now are Charles and Bob, whose differences are vast and opinions of the other are far from glowing. Thankfully, Charles has an excellent memory and having read about the wild, puts his knowledge to good use as he and Bob journey for what could be safety. Over time and worn down by the surroundings, Bob warms to Charles a lot more and the two begin to share a slow but slightly uneasy kinship. Yet the seeds of doubt are still present and could break apart the fight for survival and return to civilisation. And there is also the rather large and savage bear on their tail that refuses to rest until the two men become its next meal. Hacking through dangerous terrain and braving the extreme elements, Charles and Bob must find a way to finally overcome animosity to work together. Yet can their differences and grudges thaw in order for them to pursue survival in a dangerous climate?

I’m not the biggest fan of director Lee Tamahori. His later efforts following this film, mainly Along Came a Spider and Die Another Day, leave a lot to be desired. But I have to say that his direction here was actually atypically skillful and took me by complete surprise. If only he continued to direct like he does here, he could be a credible director. Stunning and accomplished camerawork makes the wilderness locations eye-catching in beauty and amount of scope it conjures up. It also successfully suggests the enormity of the two men’s plight as they are often shown small a against the trees and mountains they journey through. One of the best areas within The Edge is the screenplay from David Mamet, that is punchy and fresh. It takes a rather simple set up and embellishes it with wit and depth, both of which are rather lacking in many other adventure action films. It is most successful in the characters of Charles and Bob, who while they seem to develop something of a respect for each other, still have an underlying feeling of tension to them. And The Edge while witty and dramatic, doesn’t leave the action by the wayside. Far from that, it has some amazing action scenes, particularly the bear attack sequences, that act in accordance with character development and for the most part hold up in a taut way. I was very impressed and surprised by how well the film came together. Though The Edge is far from flawless; the main issue is that it’s rather overlong and stretches things a bit too much. Though with that being my only niggle, it is safe to say that The Edge is a film I genuinely found myself thrilled by. A mood enhancing score does wonders, while offering glimmers of hope for the stranded men.

It is the cast of The Edge that elevates what could have been a routine exercise. Anthony Hopkins is his intelligent and memorable best here, peppering his role with an unassuming demeanor and splashes of humour. The role of Charles is one where knowledge provides power and endurance is something he gains from his harrowing experiences. And it must be stated that Anthony Hopkins, being the professional he is, contributes a very good performance to The Edge that provides it with substance. Alec Baldwin similarly impressed me with an unexpectedly vulnerable turn as the shallow but cracking Bob. Vulnerability is not normally a word I would associate with Alex Baldwin, but he pulls it off admirably and his chemistry with Anthony Hopkins is what keeps the film ticking over. Because the main basis of the film surrounds Hopkins and Baldwin, the supporting players are not given much to do that is memorable. Harold Perrineau is good in his relatively small part of the doomed Stephen, but his character is merely a plot device. The same goes for Elle MacPherson who plays the model wife of Anthony Hopkins. She is beautiful that is true, but her part is pretty thankless.

An unexpectedly well done action thriller that has refreshing character development and some fantastic dialogue, The Edge is definitely underrated stuff that while far from perfect, knows the balance between action and drama and can supply both effectively.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Tags

2010's, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Comedy, Drama, Freida Pinto, Gemma Jones, Josh Brolin, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts, Pauline Collins, Woody Allen, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Film Title

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Director

Woody Allen

Starring

• Anthony Hopkins as Alfie
• Gemma Jones as Helena
• Naomi Watts as Sally
• Josh Brolin as Roy
• Antonio Banderas as Greg
• Lucy Punch as Charmaine
• Freida Pinto as Dia
• Pauline Collins as Cristal

Although there is wit and drama to be found, when watching You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, you can’t help but feel that Woody Allen has done better movies over the years. Sure he knows how to write some great characters and situations, but unfortunately this movie isn’t a shining example of his talent.

The film focuses on the tangled love lives and questions of fate within a family living in London. Firstly, we have Alfie who has had an epiphany that time is not on his side and that he needs to relive some of his lost youth. The first step to do this is to divorce his shocked wife Helena, who because of this becomes friendly with fake fortune-teller Cristal, who she begins to trust almost completely. Life then becomes besotted with the much younger Charmaine, who is a former call girl and gold digger. Alfie quickly marries her, but soon enough he looks like he may regret it as her money spending gets out of control and his bank balance plummets. Alfie and Helena’s daughter Sally works in an art gallery, hoping one day to open one of her own yet blighted by the fact that her husband Roy is a washed-up writer. Roy wallows in misery at a lack of inspiration because his first novel was a success, but he has failed to replicate it in the following years. He is currently awaiting the response to his latest submission, but the arrival of Helena talking of cosmic energy does nothing to quell his fears. He finds some form of solace in a growing attraction to Dia, a beautiful music student who lives in the apartment opposite. Sally has grown tired of Roy’s lack of success, moping around and wants to start her own family, which seems out of the question as Roy has no intention. While at work, she begins to develop feelings for her new boss Greg, yet she doesn’t know whether to act on them or not. Let’s just say, entanglements ensue.

While it must be said that Woody Allen still has the ear for dialogue, he isn’t on his finest form here leaving many of the stories feeling tired and exhausted. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger isn’t completely terrible, it is actually quite good in parts. But I can’t help have the nagging feeling that Woody Allen can do so much better than this. One major problem I had with the film was that as certain stories seemed to get going, they were shoved to the back and not focused on a lot. This in turn made You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger a disjointed film, because some stories work a lot better than others and certain characters were more engaging than others. There are positives to the film to be found, despite the flaws that riddle the piece and make it one of his less accomplished efforts. I liked how the theme whether fates holds sway over lives and loves was presented, in the form of a charlatan fortune-teller whose predictions are often quite close to the truth. As is typical with a multi layered film, some parts of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger work better than others. When it does work, the film has a gleefully ironic tone to it that is hard to miss. This is best summed up in the narration that has a mordant view of events and takes swipes at the misfortunes and romantic entanglements the characters find themselves in. A jaunty jazz soundtrack is used well enough to signify the changes in love that everyone goes through.

Anthony Hopkins is on good form(yet again, when he is not anything but excellent?) as Alfie, who thinks the grass is greener on the other side and is in for a rude awakening as it turns out to be not the bed of roses he expected. The delightful Gemma Jones is by turns funny and touching as his former wife, who takes to consulting supposedly clairvoyant forces for answers on her directions in life. Naomi Watts is splendidly overwrought as the frustrated Sally, while Josh Brolin, all scraggly hair and hangdog appearances is suitably pathetic and engulfed in self-pity as the washed-up Roy, desperately wanting success. The main standout within the cast for me is Lucy Punch as the trashy gold digger Charmaine. She helps provide some outrageous humour and crude appeal as Charmaine begins to fleece Alfie for every penny he’s got, despite not being the brightest person there is. Punch just has the necessary humour and attitude for the part that she clearly makes the most of. I myself found that Antonio Banderas and Freida Pinto were shortchanged with the material they were given. Both are talented stars, but the script just didn’t have enough flesh on the bones of either character for them to register with me. At least Pauline Collins, despite being only seen sporadically, is very amusing in the part of the fortune-teller who may actually be telling the truth.

With too many loose ends not tied up and some actors wasted in their respective parts, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger just lacks that extra spark that a lot of Allen’s work has. In the end, it resembles something akin to a mess that had potential but somehow squandered it.