Review of The Edge of Love (2008) by Marina U — 04 Feb 2010

I don't remember this being in theatres, and now I see why. I found this to be a sloppy, wretched mess of a film. I had to watch it because it's (ostensibly) about a literary figure. What I got was not a meaningful examination of Dylan Thomas and two of his women but a pastiche of film techniques (e.

G., the hokey montage of various naked body parts in Knightley and Murphy's sex scene, intrusive irises, sparkly teeth, etc.) and lousy dialogue (e.g., "You have a raindrop running down your cheek, just like a tear").

Then there is the miscasting: Caitlin Thomas was a voluptuous, if not particularly pretty, woman, and a far cry from the stick-thin Miller, a fitting companion for Knightley, who astute cultural critic Jeremy Clarkson refers to as "an ironing board with a face.

" Caitlin Thomas was also a very mean and violent drunk, not the simmering but silly woman portrayed here. As reviewer Eric Fuerst noted, these characters are unpleasant but, as Pedro Ponte observed, not nearly as unpleasant as they were in real life.

Which brings me to Dylan Thomas. While watching the film, I thought, "This guy (Matthew Rhys) is just too gorgeous to pass off as Dylan Thomas." In my mind, Dylan Thomas was a chubby, rather elfin-featured fellow with wiry hair.

However, in looking over early photographs of Thomas, I did see a resemblance and a vague attractiveness about him. But, I think the casting of Matthew Rhys (who, I've concluded, is quite good here) is indicative of what I find bothersome about this film as a whole: its attempt to prettify people and situations which were not all that pretty.