The Edge of Love on DVD (2008)

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 26/07/2008

Cinema began, because of technical limitations rather than artistic considerations, as a purely visual medium. If that were still the way films were made then The Edge of Love would be just about perfect. As it is the quality of John Maybury’s film fluctuates wildly, going from awe inspiring to derisively bad.

It is quite simply astounding to look at. Maybury, cinematographer Jonathan Freeman and editor Emma E. Hicox combine their clearly estimable talents to make a film that looks unlike any other I’ve seen this year. The first half of the film is simply breathtaking, from the eye-popping colour, to Maybury’s inventive, detailed and stunningly artistic framing and the clever juxtapositions and beautiful pacing of the cutting this is an exercise in technical virtuosity. The look of the film evolves as it goes on, and the fast pace of London life, even during the blitz, gives way to the cold Welsh coast. Here the stock gets a bit grainier, the compositions a little more conventional (though there are still moments that drop the jaw in their beauty) and the general tone a bit harsher. Any filmmaker wants to tell you as much with his images as the characters do with their dialogue and in this Maybury more than succeeds. Which is perhaps one of the film’s bigger problems.

Sharman MacDonald’s screenplay is a clunky, awkward thing. It never really connects its characters so, even though the four main players often find themselves living in close proximity to one another (even in the same house) they never feel like a unit, instead what we have are four individuals who seem to have drifted into the same frames to talk at each other. This creates a larger problem because in making it impossible to believe in these relationships the screenplay makes it impossible to care about them. For all the beauty on display, for all the invention on Maybury’s part and the rapt attention the visuals held me in I didn’t care about a single frame of this movie.

Keira Knightley is, to be kind about it, a deeply variable actress, but when she last worked with Maybury on The Jacket she turned in an excellent, hard edged, performance that, for my money she hadn’t come near topping since, until this film that is. Knightley is at the very centre of the film, and appears in almost every scene, and has some pretty challenging work to do. She meets and even exceeds the challenge making the strong willed Vera a fascinating character to watch and doing her rather complex character arc justice. It’s also worth noting the vocal challenges of the role. First of all there’s the Welsh accent; it’s a little sing songy, a bit cliché, but it is authentic and well done. Even more impressive is her singing, all done live on set, and all of it really rather lovely. Also turning in fine work is Cillian Murphy as Knightley’s soldier husband. Murphy is always good value and the film really falters in the 45 minutes in the middle when he’s off screen fighting the war.

Sadly the other half of the central quartet is not so good. While Keira Knightley’s accent clearly comes direct from Swansea Sienna Miller takes us on a vocal tour of the British Isles with her every sentence. There’s a Welsh bit, then that word is English, oh there’s some Irish too. It’s a real shame because she seems to be working so hard on the accent that she’s forgotten that she’s also supposed to be acting. Worst, disappointingly, is Matthew Rhys as Dylan Thomas. He shuffles around in the background of most scenes, and even when spotlighted he makes little impression. Rhys seems almost intimidated by the part, as if he can’t quite decide what to do, and so opts for… not very much, really, which further undermines the story by making Thomas so uninteresting that you can’t see for a moment why these two women, who seem intelligent enough, put up with him.

In the end The Edge of Love just sort of sits there, as visual art it is amazing, as a story and as a piece of entertainment it is sorely lacking, but the visuals mean it scrapes an extra star.

  12 out of 15 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Exeter , 09/07/2008

This is an over hyped film which I found deeply disappointing. There was a story there which could have been interesting but I couldn't engage with the characters. It all seemed so sordid. There were gimicky shots of two talking heads when the two women were lying on the floor in opposite directions. There was a lot of overacting drunkeness. I nearly walked out but the second half became more interesting and told me something I didn't know about Dylan Thomas. Sadly I find Keira Knightly extremely overrated. She has wonderful eyes and her acting comes through them but unfortunately she has this strange jaw and mouth and as the film was so unninteresting then I couldn't help focussing on her looks. Sorry, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The actor who played Dylan Thomas seemed almost convincing except that he had dark hair instead of red and was too good looking. Magnificient voice though.

  5 out of 6 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Knutsford , 30/10/2008

well i the setting, the cast played a fab part ,story line substantial and of an intrest the costumes were very beautiful but i do have to say it was a hard film to get into.Altough i did enjoy it after a while it was hard going not due to the plot just the whole film.I know this is vague but just cant put my finger on it.neither loved it nor hated it.

harsh love story with a load of sadness surrounding........

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Eastbourne, East Sussex , 30/10/2008

Edge of Love is centered around 2 kind of weird, love stories during the second world war, with the Welsh, poet Dylan Thomas caught between his wife (Sienna Miller) and his affections for Keira Knightley's character.

Then Keira's characters' soldier husband (Cillian Murphy) going off to war and returning, decidedly traumatised.

The film is really dull, with the most exciting action taking place in the last 20 minutes, when Cillian Murphy's character becomes a little upset!

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 26/07/2008

Cinema began, because of technical limitations rather than artistic considerations, as a purely visual medium. If that were still the way films were made then The Edge of Love would be just about perfect. As it is the quality of John Maybury’s film fluctuates wildly, going from awe inspiring to derisively bad.

It is quite simply astounding to look at. Maybury, cinematographer Jonathan Freeman and editor Emma E. Hicox combine their clearly estimable talents to make a film that looks unlike any other I’ve seen this year. The first half of the film is simply breathtaking, from the eye-popping colour, to Maybury’s inventive, detailed and stunningly artistic framing and the clever juxtapositions and beautiful pacing of the cutting this is an exercise in technical virtuosity. The look of the film evolves as it goes on, and the fast pace of London life, even during the blitz, gives way to the cold Welsh coast. Here the stock gets a bit grainier, the compositions a little more conventional (though there are still moments that drop the jaw in their beauty) and the general tone a bit harsher. Any filmmaker wants to tell you as much with his images as the characters do with their dialogue and in this Maybury more than succeeds. Which is perhaps one of the film’s bigger problems.

Sharman MacDonald’s screenplay is a clunky, awkward thing. It never really connects its characters so, even though the four main players often find themselves living in close proximity to one another (even in the same house) they never feel like a unit, instead what we have are four individuals who seem to have drifted into the same frames to talk at each other. This creates a larger problem because in making it impossible to believe in these relationships the screenplay makes it impossible to care about them. For all the beauty on display, for all the invention on Maybury’s part and the rapt attention the visuals held me in I didn’t care about a single frame of this movie.

Keira Knightley is, to be kind about it, a deeply variable actress, but when she last worked with Maybury on The Jacket she turned in an excellent, hard edged, performance that, for my money she hadn’t come near topping since, until this film that is. Knightley is at the very centre of the film, and appears in almost every scene, and has some pretty challenging work to do. She meets and even exceeds the challenge making the strong willed Vera a fascinating character to watch and doing her rather complex character arc justice. It’s also worth noting the vocal challenges of the role. First of all there’s the Welsh accent; it’s a little sing songy, a bit cliché, but it is authentic and well done. Even more impressive is her singing, all done live on set, and all of it really rather lovely. Also turning in fine work is Cillian Murphy as Knightley’s soldier husband. Murphy is always good value and the film really falters in the 45 minutes in the middle when he’s off screen fighting the war.

Sadly the other half of the central quartet is not so good. While Keira Knightley’s accent clearly comes direct from Swansea Sienna Miller takes us on a vocal tour of the British Isles with her every sentence. There’s a Welsh bit, then that word is English, oh there’s some Irish too. It’s a real shame because she seems to be working so hard on the accent that she’s forgotten that she’s also supposed to be acting. Worst, disappointingly, is Matthew Rhys as Dylan Thomas. He shuffles around in the background of most scenes, and even when spotlighted he makes little impression. Rhys seems almost intimidated by the part, as if he can’t quite decide what to do, and so opts for… not very much, really, which further undermines the story by making Thomas so uninteresting that you can’t see for a moment why these two women, who seem intelligent enough, put up with him.

In the end The Edge of Love just sort of sits there, as visual art it is amazing, as a story and as a piece of entertainment it is sorely lacking, but the visuals mean it scrapes an extra star.

  12 out of 15 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Knutsford , 30/10/2008

well i the setting, the cast played a fab part ,story line substantial and of an intrest the costumes were very beautiful but i do have to say it was a hard film to get into.Altough i did enjoy it after a while it was hard going not due to the plot just the whole film.I know this is vague but just cant put my finger on it.neither loved it nor hated it.

harsh love story with a load of sadness surrounding........

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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