REVIEW: THE EDGE (1997)
by Chris Webb copyright 1997
cast: Anthony Hopkins (Charles Morse), Alec Baldwin (Robert Green), Elle Macpherson (Mickey Morse), Harold Parrineau Jr. (Stephen). written by David Mamet directed by Lee Tomahori
"If you go out in the woods today, you're in for a big surprise..."
Billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) has descended upon the Alaskan wilderness for his supermodel wife's (Elle Macpherson - surprised?) layout shoot with studly photographer Robert Green (Alec Baldwin - more surprised?) and his staff. Tension mounts as Macpherson, who is decades younger than her sugar daddy husband, seems to get along quite well with her photographer buddy.
"It's lovely in the woods today, but its safer to stay inside..."
We learn that we are in store for some wilderness action in the first five minutes. Talk about harbingers of doom! Morse's secretary gave him a deep woods survival book for his birthday. In the meantime, all we hear about is the great Kodiak bear, or what the guide calls the "man eater."
"For every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain, because..."
In order to lure Morse away from camp, Robert feigns dissatisfaction with his model and seeks an Indian to pose for him. To do so, they need to take a small propeller plane with Stephen (Harold Parrineau), the assistant, eighty miles north, for what "will take just two hours." Sure it will. In the plane, Robert expresses jealousy of Morse's life. At this point, Morse asks, "So, how are you going to kill me?" Simultaniously, the plane takes a plunge and they are lost. All but the pilot survive and the action-adventure begins. Yay!
"Today's the day the teddy-bears have their picnic!"
With our three survivors as the main course, apparently. I am telling you, this bear is a menace that just will not go away. To transform this into a buddy flic, a point that Robert alludes to later on, Stephen has to be killed. He was the whiner anyway, so he was expendable. (Read that: he's not the star.) So, what ensues is a slow moving, seldomly exciting, but mostly plodding movie with quite a predictable twist. In what seems to be an endless trek through the woods is saved by the discovery of an abandoned shack, chock full of supplies. Included in this miracle kit is a canoe and a map. How fortunate!
Anthony Hopkins is a great actor, who brings integrity to each of his roles. In this weak picture, he plays an imperialistic aficionado of exotic cultures, exuding stodginess. It is not until the tension rises that he gains a sense of humor. He is all that we could ask for in a billionaire with a trophy wife, oodles of possessions, and a vault of trivial knowledge. I must say, though, that it was nice to see the old guy in the movie not needing his pills or a respirator when the going got tough.
Baldwin played a naive wimp for most of the movie, a nice change that is destroyed as we progress. He is not as nice as he would like us to believe, pushing his character to the shadows of previous tough guy roles. Except now, he is tough and bad! The early part allows an actor to glimmer through, and not just a piece of meat strutting on screen. Now he needs a meaty role for his next movie, so we do not tire of him completely.
Third billing should have gone to Bart the Bear, who held as the growling scene stealer. However, he seems to be a one dimensional actor. Not to worry, third billing went to Elle Macpherson, who showed some stupendous range. She is playing a supermodel named Mickey Morse! What kind of acting move is that? Are we to take her seriously? She had very little time on screen and very little on during her screen time. While she did not act much, we did get a veiled peek at her talents: all two of them.
It was not a horrible movie, but is one that will be easy to mock. Once you find out the twist about the plane "accident" (did I ruin it?) you will see why the movie is tough to find remotely interesting. It is apparently more than just a survivor's tale, it is a story about deceit and honor. We have seen this most recently in "Cop Land" and "L.A. Confidential." Right versus might. Those films had better deliveries and payoffs, though. "The Edge" just gets more boring as we proceed step by painful step.
With shoddy dialogue, we expect more from writer David Mamet. He has written "The Untouchables" and was Oscar-nominated for "The Verdict." Perhaps the biggest weakness can be found in director Lee Tomahori, who guided the snooze-fest "Mulholland Falls." This guy has an ear for the extremely boring.
If you want an action movie, you will find the attackes to be few and far between. If you want action with intelligence, as this movie claims it is, search long and hard to find a theater still showing "Face/Off."
My grade: C+
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