Edge, The (1997)

reviewed by
Seth Bookey


                                   The Edge

(1997, one of two films with this title)

Seen on 20 September 1997 at the Cineplex Baronet Coronet for $8.75 as a Sneak Preview.

Thriller. Suvival. Wilderness. Bear. Those are the terms the Internet Movie Database uses to categorize The Edge, and boy, never were they more accurate. Initially, the commercials for this movie made it look like another dopey "two rivals fight in the deep woods, plus a grizzly" film. The lure of two-for-the-price-of-one brought me in, and I am glad I knew next to nothing before entering the theatre.

In a nutshell, older gazillionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) and his much younger model wife (Elle Macpherson) come to the world's largest log cabin for a photoshoot, along with the photographer (Bob, played by Alec Baldwin), his assistant Stephen (Harold Perrineau Jr.), and various other personnel. Charles has a voracious appetite for knowledge and always has his nose in an informative book, but he also notices that his wife and Bob are way too chummy.

Charles, Bob, and Stephen take on an impromptu adventure to find a lone hunter to be a model turns deadly as their small pontoon plane goes down (stunning homage to Hitchcock, that scene). The pilot dies; the other three have to figure out how they are going to get back to the lodge. Oh, and a gigantic bear (Bart the Bear) is after them. All this might sound like a vague improvement on The River Wild, but it far exceeds that sort of parallel thanks to riveting direction by relative nobody Lee Tamahori and an intelligent screenplay by David Mamet.

What the commercials do not show is the presence of Stephen; it only shows Bob and Charles as rivals. Watching the billionaire bookworm take charge of their survival is interesting. If it were me, I'd be dead in about a half hour. Charles forces the men to participate in their own survival.

The only intelligent line in Copland (the next movie I saw) is that despite technological and other advances, the human thought process is still rather primitive. Watching Hopkins play a man who has every reason to be less than civilized while poised to fight his rival in circumstances that would allow less than refined behavior is fascinating. But it is not a big intellectual exercise; The Edge provides one of the best edge-of-your-seat movies I have seen in years. Tamahori comes very close to being the next potential Hitchcock, giving the sort of thrills humanity gave up when they gave up hunting in favor of agriculture.

The Edge takes none of the turns you might expect. The breathtaking woods of Alberta are not forced to carry the film. Anthony Hopkins once again proves why he is one of the best actors of our day, adding another wonderful performance to a pantheon of memorable characters. Alec Baldwin surprises also, and the hitherto unknown (to me) Harold Perrineau Jr. was equally good. Elle Macpherson serves her purpose, if you were wondering.


Copyright (c) 1997 Seth J. Bookey, New York, NY 10021

More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html


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