The Edge of Love (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Alice S

  
  I'm no fan of Keira Rat-Face Knightley, but I have to say, she is photographed remarkably well in this movie. Her singing scenes are gorgeous with the shiny lipstick and stiff coiffure, the fuzzy Vaseline lens and the red, green, and blue filters. Her lip-syncing and singing… More
  I'm no fan of Keira Rat-Face Knightley, but I have to say, she is photographed remarkably well in this movie. Her singing scenes are gorgeous with the shiny lipstick and stiff coiffure, the fuzzy Vaseline lens and the red, green, and blue filters. Her lip-syncing and singing expressions looked pretty convincing as well. Then I found out she sang her own songs! Well, color me impressed. Those musical numbers are easily the best parts of the movie. The twisted love...parallelogram is too subtle, too full of wist. There isn't much development on how exactly Vera and Caitlin become besties, what exactly went on between Dylan and Vera, why William becomes so disturbed.

• Dean !

  
  A well made film with a strong cast and good production values. Good use of cinematography and some good acting talent on show. I was very impressed with the Welsh accents. Anyone who thinks Sienna Miller is just a pretty face should see this, one of her best performances I have seen.… More
  A well made film with a strong cast and good production values. Good use of cinematography and some good acting talent on show. I was very impressed with the Welsh accents. Anyone who thinks Sienna Miller is just a pretty face should see this, one of her best performances I have seen. Loosely based on true events around the relationships the poet Dylan Thomas had at the time of the second world war. Overall I'm not a big drama fan and it is a bit slow at times. If you like relationship dramas or any of the actors, this would probably be a 4 star film for you!

• Bruce B

  
  This is the type of film that one minute you hate it and the next minute your thinking this isn't bad, but never think this is swell or outstanding. The story itself is about Dylan Thomas and after watching this movie I give my father more credit as to why he hated the name… More
  This is the type of film that one minute you hate it and the next minute your thinking this isn't bad, but never think this is swell or outstanding. The story itself is about Dylan Thomas and after watching this movie I give my father more credit as to why he hated the name Dylan. We are bombarded with Dylan Thomas pomes and lines in a World War II Bombing of England and Scenes of British solders in Greece. Dylan has his wife, also his childhood sweetheart that is married to a British Soldier who is fighting the war, but comes home with his troubles. You have to be an independent film lover to enjoy this film. 3 Stars

• Cynthia S

  
  Much better than what I expected from the reviews. Story, acting, and characters were all very well done. In case youre expecting a mix of war action, and drama, it's actually entirely a love story....save a couple of very short, isolated battlefield scenes. Cillian Murphy was… More
  Much better than what I expected from the reviews. Story, acting, and characters were all very well done. In case youre expecting a mix of war action, and drama, it's actually entirely a love story....save a couple of very short, isolated battlefield scenes. Cillian Murphy was wonderful in this. Quietly slow, romantic, beautiful visuals.

• Jim H

  
  This film is full of sound and fury but signifies nothing. It's a poor man's <i>Atonement</i> with more sex and less love, more violence and less compelling action, more selfishness and less motivation. All of the performances are adequate at best, though Keira… More
  This film is full of sound and fury but signifies nothing. It's a poor man's <i>Atonement</i> with more sex and less love, more violence and less compelling action, more selfishness and less motivation. All of the performances are adequate at best, though Keira Knightley is her usual crappy self with the most inconsistent accent since Tom Hanks in <i>Bonfire of the Vanities</i>. On a positive note, I do enjoy learning that the writers I didn't like reading in anthologies were shitty, selfish human beings.

• jay n

  
  Dull, dreary darkly light drama that fails to engage the viewer with the characters or their travails. Keira looks beautiful and very at home in the period settings though.

• Lewis C

  
  I found The Edge of Love to be frightfully dull. Maybe it's just too high-brow for my unrefined tastes, but all the depressing poetry and endlessly repeated discussions had me constantly checking to see how much time was left before the movie came to a blessed end. Add all that… More
  I found The Edge of Love to be frightfully dull. Maybe it's just too high-brow for my unrefined tastes, but all the depressing poetry and endlessly repeated discussions had me constantly checking to see how much time was left before the movie came to a blessed end. Add all that to a plot that wanders without any clear goal and characters who failed to interest me in the slightest, and you have the perfect recipe for a movie that may not necessarily be bad...but it's certainly not for me. I only watched it because of Keira Knightley, and if I can manage to sit through something this boring for her, then I honestly think that I could watch her in anything. I suppose i can be grateful to The Edge of Love for showing me what a lovely singing voice she has, but that's all the praise that I can muster. As I said before, I'm not calling this a bad movie. There could well be an audience who would love this tale of vaguely confused and self-involved people during World War II. I am most defintely NOT a member of that audience, though, and after struggling through to the meaningless ending while forcing myself to keep my eyes open, my happiest thought is that I'll never have to watch it again.

• Nicki M

  
  There was something a little bit off with this movie, I just can't put my finger on what it was. It is beautifully filmed and cast are all excellent, particularly Kiera and Cillian. Sienna as well, to a lesser extent. I found it interesting, which is a big ask with me and… More
  There was something a little bit off with this movie, I just can't put my finger on what it was. It is beautifully filmed and cast are all excellent, particularly Kiera and Cillian. Sienna as well, to a lesser extent. I found it interesting, which is a big ask with me and period films, there are not many that I will sit and watch, but I did get to the end and wonder what it was that stopped this being a really good film. It's a bit of a downer mid way through, (which is fair enough, I mean it is set during the war), but it does change tone very abruptly. All of the characters in this are somewhat unhinged, whether intentionally or not, they do not behave rationally and some of the behaviour is hard to understand. That in itself is I think one of the things I liked about it to start with, but by the end I really didn't get any of them. I am still in two minds about whether I liked this movie or not.

• Conner R

  
  A very well done period drama. It is a very personal character piece that you don't see as much anymore. The cast was great. Cillian Murphy was bizarre and tortured. Sienna Miller and Kiera Knightley had a great chemistry between eachother. I wasn't crazy about Matthew Rhys… More
  A very well done period drama. It is a very personal character piece that you don't see as much anymore. The cast was great. Cillian Murphy was bizarre and tortured. Sienna Miller and Kiera Knightley had a great chemistry between eachother. I wasn't crazy about Matthew Rhys and he really threw me off from completely loving it.

• Jennifer X

  
  In a nutshell: a really boring but sexy period film. The lesbianism is bit heavyhanded though.

• Morgan S

  
  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 LIKE… More
  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 LIKE 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!

• Elvira B

  
  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… More
  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 being 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?

• Dean M

  
  This captivating drama is a classy affair that appeals to fans of film like <i>Match Point</i>. Sienna Miller does alright as bastard Welsh's volatile wife and Keira Knightley shows more versatility than simply looking stunning as Welsh's World War II dreamgirl.… More
  This captivating drama is a classy affair that appeals to fans of film like <i>Match Point</i>. Sienna Miller does alright as bastard Welsh's volatile wife and Keira Knightley shows more versatility than simply looking stunning as Welsh's World War II dreamgirl. But even Knightley singing (quite well) and getting nude can't charge interest in a neverending and confused portrait of abusive love and tiresome moaning.

• Dann M

  
  The Edge of Love is an insipid period drama that insists upon itself too much. The script tries to sound witty and elegant, but comes off as shallow and annoying. The cast is strong and includes Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, and Cillian Murphy, but there's no passion or depth… More
  The Edge of Love is an insipid period drama that insists upon itself too much. The script tries to sound witty and elegant, but comes off as shallow and annoying. The cast is strong and includes Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, and Cillian Murphy, but there's no passion or depth to their performances. And, the directing is chaotic; coming off as a blend of several different styles, and it constantly draws attention to itself. The Edge of Love is a boring and pointless film that has nothing of substance to say.

• Walter M

  
  "The Edge of Love" starts in 1940 as Dylan Thomas(Matthew Rhys) is busy working on voiceovers for propaganda films instead of his beloved poetry. And instead of being with his family, he carries on an affair in London with Vera(Keira Knightley), a young singer, until the… More
  "The Edge of Love" starts in 1940 as Dylan Thomas(Matthew Rhys) is busy working on voiceovers for propaganda films instead of his beloved poetry. And instead of being with his family, he carries on an affair in London with Vera(Keira Knightley), a young singer, until the Mrs.(Sienna Miller), Caitlin, shows up to ruin the party. Caitlin and Dylan make quite the self-destructive couple as they drink and dance, with their young son left behind in Wales while the world burns around them. That leaves Vera out in the cold until she accepts the marriage proposal of William(Cillian Murphy) who succeeds with the oldest line in the book that he is about to ship out to the front. "The Edge of Love" is a surprisingly well-acted movie but it fails in any meaningful way to connect Dylan's poetry to the horrors of World War II. That is how William is supposed to fit into the picture but he just ends up as another appendage of a soap opera, of which the best part is the friendship between Vera and Caitlin who commiserate over how big a bastard Dylan Thomas is. But that's not why we're here, really, and there is little indication why parents still name their kids after him.(Or is that the other Dylan? I get confused...) Sure, there's some poetry but it is understandable why somebody would think Dylan Thomas invented the DVD commentary track, instead.

• Cinema F

  
  So, the renowned Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was still alive (and kicking) during the Second World War? What a surprise! The movie featured heavily on the life of the poet who never fought on the battlefields but certainly served his time in the ranks of the heartbreakers and… More
  So, the renowned Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was still alive (and kicking) during the Second World War? What a surprise! The movie featured heavily on the life of the poet who never fought on the battlefields but certainly served his time in the ranks of the heartbreakers and heartbroken. There were two major women in Thomas' life--Vera, his first love and childhood friend, and Caitlin, his fiery wife. The storyline pretty much revolves around these two women, their love for Dylan and each other. With the introduction of William (Murphy), a soldier who would be the answer to Vera's dreams, a volatile love square is formed that will last for years and test the morals of all those involved. The film is visually appealing, the acting is solid and the music is moody and understated. And there's another surprise -- KK can sing, as she also does a respectable job at belting out a tune or two. Overall, the film is quite interesting, and not a bad insight into the subjects behind those immortal poetic lines.

• Nikki M

  
  Nicely done, a little slow in the middle but not bad and a nice happy ending!

• monty h

  
  A visually striking film about the poet Dylan Thomas and the two women in his life. One is his feisty wife Caitlin (Sienna Miller) and the other is his childhood friend Vera (Keira Knightley). Vera makes a stunning entrance as the camera zooms in on her as she is singing a song for… More
  A visually striking film about the poet Dylan Thomas and the two women in his life. One is his feisty wife Caitlin (Sienna Miller) and the other is his childhood friend Vera (Keira Knightley). Vera makes a stunning entrance as the camera zooms in on her as she is singing a song for the underground to support the troops during wartime. It's a bold colorful image that will be with the entire movie. This movie is only good for the acting, more on that in a minute. The main plotline has Dylan (Matthew Rhys) struggling over which woman to be with and they even end up sharing a house together for about a year. That is until Vera meets and falls in love with a soldier named William (Cillian Murphy). Surprisingly Vera and Caitlin develop a bond of friendship that is put through the wringer. Love is a gorgeous looking film with solid performances with Murphy and Miller being the standouts. Keira is ok, but she can do these kind of roles in her sleep now. I wish she would change gears and do a romantic comedy like Love Actually or an action film instead of these period English films. Sienna Miller actually upstages her with a super performance as the hellion wife Caitlin. Never before had I seen Ms. Miller show this much range as an actress. But my main problem with this movie is the central character of Dylan himself. I just couldn't see why both women were this crazy or involved over him. He comes across as a douche bag. And I swear to god I had never seen this much smoking in any one film ever. I mean these people smoke when they drink, when they talk, when they cook, when they eat, when they lay in bed cuddling. Every scene has someone lighting up. Still, this film is worth seeing mainly for the acting. And some good singing by Keira, if that is her doing her own singing, it's pretty good. Watch with low expectations.

• John A

  
  Dylan Thomas and Vera Phillips grew up childhood sweethearts in South Wales. Ten years later they met in a London pub; exempt from conscription he was writing propaganda poetry, while she was part of a singing act on London Underground. Although he thought them 'soul mates'… More
  Dylan Thomas and Vera Phillips grew up childhood sweethearts in South Wales. Ten years later they met in a London pub; exempt from conscription he was writing propaganda poetry, while she was part of a singing act on London Underground. Although he thought them 'soul mates' Dylan was married to fiesty free-spirit Caitlan MacNamara, and Vera was beginning an affair with young war hero William Killick. And therein lies the central problem with 'The Edge of Love'; with these four bold, colourful characters each fighting for screen time, screenwriter Sharman MacDonald leaves a potentially moving story to flounder. None are less interesting than the other, but without a character - or a pair, even - taking centre stage, the film becomes messy and incohesive. But 'The Edge of Love' is not without merit, and parts of the film are so good it is a real shame the editing and structure don't compliment Maybury's direction. Aided by some atmospheric cinematography and extravagant attention to detaill, he elicits a potent, sensuous mood to mirror the tangled love-lives of the confused protagonists. And even as a straight-forward narrative 'The Edge of Love' easily engages the casual viewer. Knightley's fantastic performance impresses from the get-go, and her and Matthew Rhys share more than chemistry; you see Vera and Dylan and you see their history, their romance and that soulful connection they both try to deny as they embark on different paths of life. But then the tagline suggests the more important relationship to be between Vera and Caitlan, and how their bonds of friendship are tested by the interference of men. This half of the film works less effectively and doesn't move us as much as it could, but Knightley and Miller nevertheless also feel like friends, and breaks in trust still exude more than a tinge of regret. Yet maybe it would have worked better if Vera was the focal point of the film, and Maybury used her to uncover Dylan, William and Caitlan's characters secondary to her own. Knightley certainly shines brightest, and pours the most passion into what (thanks to poor organisation) could have ended up a surprisingly sterile feature. Despite its potentially fatal flaw, 'The Edge of Love' still works as an above-average romantic melodrama. The tale could have ended on something more worthy than a violent attack, and it is frustrating how moments of greatness go to waste; but Marybury's stylistic approach is likely to leave a luminous, poetic and often poignant impression - even on the viewer who isn't a fan of the genre.

• Sarah B

  
  There's nothing particularly wrong about this film, except the fact that the book it's based on has never been proven as fact so this could be all false, the performances are universally good, but they don't go together and the star, central character and most famous… More
  There's nothing particularly wrong about this film, except the fact that the book it's based on has never been proven as fact so this could be all false, the performances are universally good, but they don't go together and the star, central character and most famous person in the film isn't made much of: Dylan Thomas. Just seems wrong to me.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings