bch@mcnc.UUCP (Byron Howes) (10/24/84)
- - - mod.movies - - - - - - Volume 1, Issue 2 - - -
"The Razor's Edge"
reviewed by Peter Reiher
"The Razor's Edge", based on Somerset Maugham's novel, is the
story of a man's search for the meaning of life. Heavy stuff. Throw
in some "war is hell" experiences and a little personal tragedy, and it
could get really depressing. If nothing else, though, the new film
version of "The Razor's Edge" isn't depressing, due solely to the fact
that Bill Murray is playing the lead.
Obviously, the big question about this film is, can Bill Murray
play a straight part? "The Razor's Edge" doesn't quite answer that
question. Murray's performance is a qualified success. The character
is still presented with many serious problems and still has an
overwhelming desire to find meaning in his life, but Murray also
infuses him with a lively sense of humor. Doing so could be regarded
as an inability to completely let go of his comedy background, or a
daring attempt to play the character against type. Probably it's a
little of both. Larry Durrell is a difficult part, and Murray gives a
respectable interpretation. His performance does not, however, provide
the touch of genius that would be necessary to make "The Razor's Edge"
really work. (I suspect that the performance will look better to those
who have never seen Murray do any comedy.)
The film's title refers to the difficulty of leading a good life,
likening it to walking on a path as narrow as a razor's edge. (The
title eventually takes on a grim second meaning.) Larry Durrell is a
young American who goes to France as an ambulance driver during World
War I. When he returns to America, his war experiences make him unable
to settle into the comfortable, steady life awaiting him. He goes back
to France, where he begins to study philosophy while working as a
common laborer. His fiancee eventually leaves him because he is
unwilling to return to a life based on an ambition to have a big house
and a new car every year. On the suggestion of a particularly erudite
coal miner, he travels to India. There, a sojourn in a monastery
brings him some understanding. His return to France is followed by
reacquaintance with his former friends, including his now-married
fiancee and a widowed childhood sweetheart. These connections lead to
further problems and further enlightenment. Durrell finally seems to
have gained enough insight to live his life in peace, if not in
happiness.
The above may sound a bit scattered. So is the film. The script
has taken liberties with the novel, as might be expected. The major
loss has been a real understanding of Durrell's spiritual journey. We
are only given occasional bits of wisdom picked up here and there
rather than a sense of a continuing search for a personal philosophy.
One would have thought they could have fit more of that into two hours
and ten minutes.
John Byrum, the director, does not do very much to pull it all
together. He doesn't have any real vision, it seems, of how "The
Razor's Edge" should progress. Some sequences are rather well done,
others less so. A bit in the war sequences about denigrating lost
comrades to ease the pain falls completely flat on a combination of
writing, directing, and acting, the collective responsibility for which
is totally Byrum's and Murray's, since they also wrote the script.
Other sequences fail in other manners. The pacing of the first two
thirds of the film is rather slow, as well, though it picks up a little
towards the end. Paris looks unextraordinary and India far less
beautiful and interesting than many other filmmakers have made it.
Partial blame goes to the cinematographer, whose name I do not have
before me at the moment, but who, under the circumstances, would surely
not mind anonymity. (He did, however, come up with one fine shot of
sunrise on a battlefield.)
The supporting cast is competent, but unextraordinary. Denholm
Elliot and Theresa Russell have both been much better in other films.
James Keach has one good moment as Murray's best friend, but otherwise
his character serves as mere plot contrivance. Catherine Hicks comes
off best as the fiancee unwilling to sacrifice her comfort for Murray's
quest, but equally unwilling to let go of him. Brian Doyle-Murray,
like his brother, seems to be skirting between a comic and a dramatic
portrayal in his role as the chief ambulance driver, though he angles a
bit more towards the serious side.
"The Razor's Edge" is curiously Unengaging for a film for which so
many of the people involved expressed deep feelings. The producer went
to great lengths to obtain the rights to the novel, Byrum and Murray
practically committed economic blackmail to get in on it, and Murray
made production of the film a precondition for selling "Ghostbusters"
to Columbia. Only Murray's contribution seems to show any real
interest for the material, and then only his acting. Even that is not
totally on target.
I had my doubts about this picture since first hearing of it, and
it's turned out to be much what I expected. "The Razor's Edge" proves
to be another case of a noble attempt to film the unfilmable, following
in the footsteps of such misguided efforts as "Ulysses", "The Sound and
the Fury" (starring Yul Brynner, would you believe?), and
"Steppenwolf". Tracing spiritual and philosophical matters in a film
calls for genius. Enthusiasm isn't enough.
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher