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Camilla Rutherford, Cillian Murphy, Keira Knightley

Two feisty, free-spirited women are connected by the brilliant, charismatic poet who loves them both. The passion and pathos of legendary poet Dylan Thomas is told through the lives of two extraordina...( read more  read more... )ry women. Vera Phillips (Keira Knightley) and Dylan (Matthew Rhys) were teenage loves; fast forward ten years and the two reconnect in London. She's working as a singer whilst he's churning out scripts for government propaganda films and living off the last in a long line of infatuated women. The two former lovers feel the thunderbolt once more, but Thomas is now married to the adventurous Caitlin (Sienna Miller). Despite their love-rival status, the women form a surprising friendship. Caitlin indulges in her own infidelities, and recognizes a similar adventurous spirit in her husband. But she knows his connection with Vera is something different, not to mention dangerous. Romantic turmoil continues in Vera's life. She marries her devoted admirer William Killick (Cillian Murphy), but she can't deny the chemistry between herself and Dylan, nor does she want to - even if this means betraying Caitlin. When William is posted abroad, and a pregnant Vera returns to Wales with her married friends, the battle between her heart and head becomes more intense. William returns a changed man, but neither is Vera the carefree cabaret girl he married. Neighborhood gossip fuels her husband's jealousy towards his rival. Enraged, William stages a violent attack on Dylan - an attack that forces Vera to choose between the men in her life and the friend that she loves. Desire and guilt are complicated by love and friendship in this real-life tale set in beautiful London and the majestic Welsh countryside.

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46% liked it

48,953 ratings

Critics

34% liked it

53 critics

R, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: John Maybury

Release Date: May 15, 2008

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DVD Release Date: July 14, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (944)

  • xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    September 8, 2009
    xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    althought it wavered at somepoints...I really really like this movie! Its just what i love...beautiful people (Keria Knightley and Cillian Murch) and a great love story! I loved the begining story where they were all together and such...I HAD NO IDEA KERIA KNIGHTLEY COULD SING LI...( read more)KE THAT!! she shuold do it more offten!! The sencond story i was not sooo found of but thats ok!~
    this is kind of a vauge review im very sorry!
  • her69eyes
    August 7, 2009
    her69eyes
    Attention: cheating husbands and boyfriends. When confronted about your philandering, here is the perfect rebuttal - "I do it because i'm a poet, and poets feed off of life!"

    Unfortunately, not all of the dialogue in "The Edge of Love" is quite as unintentionally hilarious. In f...( read more)act, most of it is that syrupy sham that we hear in every other romantic drama, lines like: "You have all my words and every heartbeat". I'm typically a sucker for this sort of overbearing melodrama, but really? That's the best there is to offer in a film about one of Britain's most prolific poets?

    The silly dialogue is no match for the art direction, however. Not only are we taken through a lighting course at a film school, we are greeted with iris', kaleidoscope vision, eyes that appear in windows, dozens of sparkles on Keira Knightley's teeth, and, of course, the exaggerated post-production saturation of reds. The tag line should be "You want red lips? We'll give you the shit out of some red lips".

    In a film so concerned with such superficial matters, it's easy to overlook the plot. It concerns Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys), a poet in 1940's London who avoided military duty by applying his craft to propaganda. One night, at a cabaret, he is reacquainted with a former lover, Vera (Keira Knightley). Dylan introduces Vera to his wife, Caitlin (Sienna Miller), and meanwhile a handsome soldier, William Killick (Cillian Murphy) wins over Vera. Vera and Caitlin forge an unlikely friendship, and while Vera nurses her child, William goes off to fight in Greece. Needless to say, it's not all smooth sailing in this menage a quatre, and jealousy begins to run rampant.

    What's remarkable about these characters is how unpleasant they all are. In an effort to give us three-dimensional characters with human flaws, they instead all turn into these selfish louts that we cannot possibly care about. The last half hour drastically takes the film in a new direction, but the problem is that we don't believe the "incident" that caused such turmoil, nor do we forgive the culprit, nor do we believe the rest of the characters would react in the manner they did. In fact, searching for a genuine moment in this film is quite the task.

    Perhaps i'm being too hard. The performances are all quite good, particularly Sienna Miller who proves her worth as an actress beyond tabloid fodder. Kiera Knightly is also lovely once again, and i'm now so accustomed to seeing her elegant beauty in these period pieces that I cannot fathom seeing her don a pair of blue jeans. She brings life to each one of these movies, however, with this being perhaps one of her most mature performances yet.

    Unfortunately, beyond the performances it's a mostly unpleasant experience. The digital effects make much of the film look cheap, and the dialogue is completely unnatural and pretentious. It's not a terrible film, but it's a completely disposable drama that puts more effort into it's style than it's substance.
  • limoradalloway
    August 2, 2009
    limoradalloway
    I liked the script a lot--very smart and poetic lines every now and then tinged with tragic, but curable romance.
  • EarthlyAlien
    April 14, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    "You have a raindrop running down your cheek, just like a tear."

    ...( read more)eb__470x3040.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">

    Doesn't aspire to be anything more than a juicy British wartime soap opera, but when it finds delicious pockets of whispered betrayal, artistic impotency, and cherry-lipped invitation, it adds up to a convincing sit. Wonderful performances by its four leads (Sienna Miller is particularly riveting), but historically misleading, and doesn't scratch the surface of what bohemian monsters Dylan & Caitlin Thomas were. The film's cinematic signature is made up of moody imagery that is still grounded in reality, but with poetic flourish. Angela Badalamenti's score is elegantly understated. Intense and strangely beautiful
  • ebs90
    April 9, 2009
    ebs90
    This is a story about Dylan Thomas. His wife Caitlin, his Earth. And his childhood sweetheart and current platonic love, Vera -his sky-. Both women are free-spirited, eager to feel and live and love, and totally aware of Dylan's love for the other. They begin competing, end up be...( read more)ing friends. Dylan is always a bit of a pain to them. So this is a story about life with Dylan Thomas. A pathetic figure, a genius, an irresponsible child, a selfish young man, a helpless romantic.
    A love triangle develops here. Against all reason, everyone befriends everyone. Everyone shares everyone. We are taken into the core of this strange relationship and led to understand how, in real life social/emotional dynamics, there is seldom an absolute.

    Caitlin and Vera absolutely take over this film. Both Sienna Miller's and Keira Knightley's performances are towering and fierce and they often leave the character of Dylan Thomas looking like a blur in the background. The script is also very much about them, about the dynamics of their imperfect friendship. Both women are more in love with Dylan than is probably good for them. It's interesting to see them fall once and again into the same pattern of surrender and self-destruction. Their characters are excellently written by Sharman Macdonald. Her desire to make them the epicentre of the movie is obvious; she considers them more important than the poet himself. And perhaps they are, at least in what refers to the strictly quotidian.

    Styllistically, The Edge of Love is admirable. The art direction is meticulous, the photography is beautiful and airy. I didn't expect less. The scenes of the waves crashing in a Welsh beach are beautiful. So are the grey windy skies, the figure of the beaten poet against a stone floor, shadows running up and down subway staircases. The imagery is ad hoc: moody yet aesthetic. There is often the sound of Dylan humming, murmuring poetry in the night by the big cozy bed he shares with Caitlin in Vera's place. It is unclear who he prays to.

    As for the script, although it has some very strong points as far as characterization goes, it tries to cover so much ground -much of which doesn't particularly serve the development of the story- of these episodes, that it either lingers too long on trivial stuff or leaves plenty unsaid in crucial moments. It's OK for a film to be ambiguous, but sometimes I just couldn't guess what was going on simply because the characters didn't speak! I think that makes the scrip drag. It's poetic and evocative, but very dense.

    The ambiguity I refer to is what made me drop the star. The Edge of Love is well directed, acted, edited, etc. But an already controversial and incomprehensible relationship doesn't benefit from an overtly irregular script such as this. The dialog is great, but at certain points it's very easy to misunderstand the circumstances.

    Matthew Rhys is an excellent Dylan Thomas. Appropriately inspired, then ridiculous, then all at once. No vanity, nothing held back. Cillian Murphy plays Vera's husband, a soldier who experiences a monumental change after he is sent to war. Murphy is definitely a talented actor and a very versatile one.

    So... The Edge of Love has potential. It has a terrific cast. Angelo Badalamenti score. Effective production. It could've been much better, but that doesn't make it, by any means, a bad film. On the contrary, it's an inspired examination of love -even if some may think love has nothing to do with any of this-. It's intelligent, entertaining, and open-minded. It may not be flawless, but considering what it's about, what else could it be?
  • filmguy450
    November 19, 2009
    filmguy450
    The best acting I've seen from Cillian Murphy, and it's up there for Keria Knightley's performance too. The movie is about poet Dylan Thomas and the two women he loves; they know about each other. It's set during WWII and was really engrossing, even if some sceneslast too long, a...( read more)nd the conclusion was foregone, so why tell the story
  • domsi96
    October 24, 2009
    domsi96
    since Keria Knightley is in it I will probably really like it so, i guess i really want to see it
  • Gail1988
    October 22, 2009
    Gail1988
    I usually like Keira Knightley films but this one was a bit out there for me. It was just one mangled mess of love, hate, jealousy, anger, pain. and other feelings. Maybe that was what they were going for but it was a bit too much for me.
  • wing911
    September 17, 2009
    wing911
    Very well played. Really enjoyed.
  • jeanramos198390
    September 10, 2009
    jeanramos198390
    i want to see this movie

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Critic Reviews

April 3, 2009
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The Edge of Love holds a lot of promise in its first hour and never completely falls apart, but it's ultimately not the movie it might have been. full review

April 2, 2009
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

This may be Knightley's first truly mature performance. Too bad it arrives wrapped in doggerel. full review

March 20, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The movie makes for an engaging enough period piece. full review

March 19, 2009
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

The Edge of Love is the sort of muddled melodrama that has little to say about love, or anything else. full review

March 19, 2009
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

A stagy, arty, and uncompelling account of the Welsh writer and his menage-y relations with his boozy Irish wife and his young Welsh girlfriend. full review

View more The Edge of Love reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • alemagico
    June 18, 2008
    alemagico
    Im glad The POster,clips and pics were posted all by me, even the news. I LOVE CILLIAN AND IF I SEE ANOTHER NEW MOVIE ABOUT HIM COUNT ON ME! BECAUSE I WILL POST EVERYTHING FIRST! (IF I CAN)!!!!!!!!!!!!

    CILLIAN MURPHY, HOTNESS TILL DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!
    YEAH BABY!!!!!! CANT WAIT FOR EDGE OF LOVE!!!!!!!!
  • alemagico
    March 17, 2008
    alemagico
    I will see THE EDGE OF LOVE for some cool things:
    1. CILLIAN MURPHY WILL BE ACTING HERE!
    2. CILLIAN IS MY FAVE ACTOR NEXT TO DAN RADCLIFFE!
    3. CILLIAN IS A TALENTED MAN WITH A CUTE FACE!
    4. CILLIAN ROCKS IN EVERY MOVIE HE MADES!
    5. Keira rules as his couple here!
    6. WHY CILLIAN HAS EVERY TALENTED WOMEN BY HIS SIDE?
    7. ANSWER OF 6: BECAUSE MURPHY IS THE HOTTEST!!!!
  • quoththeravennevermore
    March 2, 2008
    quoththeravennevermore
    looking forward to this film. i read somewhere that ms. lindsay lohan was originally in this, but due to the obvious, sienna miller now took the role.
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The Edge of Love Trivia

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