Review of The Edge (1997) by Michael L — 22 Dec 2008

Name me another movie that has themes of morality and survivalism, along with Elle Macpherson? I hadn't seen this in years until rewatching it the other night. It held up as well as it had in my memory.

Strong points are the Alaskan setting and the great casting and acting of Hopkins and Baldwin as the leads who are forced into a tense partnership with each other in order to survive. I didn't realize David Mamet had written the script until I saw it on here. Not the usual street level hustle and con of Mamet. It was great how Baldwin's role, which would have been overplayed into a cliched villain in most scripts, was instead more subtly written. Instead you were never sure about where he was going and what his motivations were all the way through to the end of the film.

Bart the Bear must be praised for one of the best animal performances in a feature film as well.

Underrated and definitely worth seeing if, like me, you enjoy man vs. nature, macho survival movies (think "Deliverance" with a bear instead of hillbillies).