Edge, The (1997)

reviewed by
Ben Hoffman


                                 THE EDGE

At last a thriller with a protagonist who could be a contestant on Jeopardy. That is billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins). Charles thinks it is a wasted talent to know every kind of trivia; nothing one can use in real life.

Real life is his wife, very much younger than he, the stunning Mickey who is a model on a shoot in Alaska with Robert Green (Alec Baldwin) the high fashion photographer; her husband has been invited to come along.. Green is in love with Mickey, as who could resist her incredible smile? When a new site for the shoot is needed, Robert, accompanied by Charles, take off by plane to scout other locales. The plane crashes in an Alaskan wilderness, and now Charles and Robert have to depend on each other for survival. What complicates matters is that Charles is certain his wife and Robert have been having an affair.

Suddenly, Charles' knowledge of trivia becomes the only thing between living and dying. There is little of which he is unable to take advantage, from making fire to warding off a bear who is intent on tracking them. The question is, does Charles really want to save Robert; another question is, would Robert kill Charles if there was a chance to get back to civilization without him? The two are as unlike personalities as ever have been thrown together in a struggle for life. This is equally true of the acting styles of Hopkins and Baldwin. Add that the director chose a famous super-model to portray a famous super-model and Macpherson came through very nicely.

THE EDGE is a tensely fascinating thriller with two men wary of each other, a determined bear who does not care which of the two he tears apart, the weather and the isolation of being lost and probably never found. Exceptional performance by Hopkins . . . as always.

                     Directed by Lee Tamahori..
3 Bytes
4 Bytes = Superb
3 Bytes = Too good to miss
2 Bytes = Average
1 Byte  = Save your money
              Copyright 1997               Ben Hoffman

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