The Razor's Edge (1984)....fulfilled that old adage - that deep down, every clown dreams of playing Hamlet....
Bill Murray, already firmly established as a movie comedy superstar, finally made his own dream come true with this ambitious, epic new version of the W. Somerset Maugham novel (last filmed in 1946 with Tyrone Power).
For agreeing to star in Columbia Studios' "Ghostbusters", he exacted "The Razor's Edge" as part of the deal, affording him the opportunity of taking on his first major dramatic role.
And what a role indeed. Larry Darrell, born into the wealthy society class of suburban Chicago in the early 20th century. Destined for a privileged life with his adorable fiance Isabel (Catherine Hicks), he first seeks out adventure as an ambulance driver amid the bloody battlefields of World War I.
But his first hand experience with the horrors of war changes Larry forever. Troubled and restless, he forsakes his pre-ordained future to wander about the world in search of the meaning of life, and some measure of peace for his now wounded soul.
To nobody's great surprise, the resulting movie, expensive to make and handsomely mounted, opened as a dead-on-arrival, colossal flop.
To my surprise, watching this film again, 39 years after its release..........it's not so bad. In fact, much of it, in its performances and sequences is pretty damn good, even approaching excellence.
The fatal flaw? A gaping hole in the serious miscasting of its lead character, I know Bill Murray wanted the very best for the film and it truly looks and sounds like a sweeping epic in every frame. But he did neither himself nor the film any favors by starring in it.
His only way into the role was to present himself as a slightly more toned down version of his own comic persona, all too familiar. Apparently afraid that audiences wouldn't fully accept him in a straight-ahead dramatic portrayal, his Larry Darrell is still Bill. He uses his familiar flat deadpan expression to make us think Larry's having deep thoughts........but at every chance given him, he breaks out with some of his ironic one line zingers, as if he's suddenly in a Saturday Night Live skit.
But the movie that surrounds this odd, empty misguided performance still remains worth watching. And I'll tell you why........
First, the supporting cast. There's some wonderful work to savor here.....Denholm Elliot as a sardonic expatriate aristocrat, veteran Brit character actor Peter Vaughan as a surprisingly literate coal miner, Bill's big brother Brian Doyle-Murray as a war hardened Ambulance driver And most of all, in a stunning award worthy performance, Theresa Russell as one of Larry's young society friends he grew up with. In the film's third act, Russell commands the screen and breaks your heart as her character, having suffered a gut-wrenching tragedy, spirals into self destruction.
And second, composer Jack Nitzsche's grand, symphonic, achingly romantic score, a throwback to those powerful swelling themes of Max Steiner, Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann. Perhaps it's overused a little too much throughout the film, but it's such glorious retro classic cinema ear candy, it has to work overtime to make up the for gap left by Bill Murray's facile, indifferent acting. With his music, it's clear that Nitzsche knew what kind of film this was supposed to be far better than its star.
Watchable? Worth a viewing? BQ says yes and yes.....if for no other reason than you'll rarely see such an expansive, heartfelt film like this among our current crop of superhero sludge, horror movies and arthouse snoozes. 3 & 1/2 stars (***1/2)
No comments:
Post a Comment