The Edge of Love

If you went by the mostlly male MetaCritic reviewers, you'd think this was one of the worst films ever made. I thought it was good -- not great -- but held my interest throughout and I thought the actors were very attractive and convincing in their roles.

I don't know anything about Dylan Thomas. From what was read/spoken in the film, I don't think much of his poetry. Sounds like he tried way too hard and reached, but missed. The lines were contrived and didn't seem to make much sense. I like Archibald MacLeisch.

Mathew Rhys was very good at playing the womanizing villain, but with charm and believability. Knightly and the other female lead were also interesting characters in this wartime drama.

I think more women would rate this film higher than men because women would understand the female friendship as well as the slick charm of a Mr. Wrong.

This beautifully made film possibly evokes the feel of London in the blitz more than any other film. Set during wartime, it's about relationships and friendship. Primarily it's about the friendship between Keira Knightly's character and that of Siena Miller which is tested beyond any limit known to man.... or in this case, woman. Everyone looks great, everyone seems real and the very stylish photography and energy of the direction make this a real masterpiece of fine art.

The story, incidentally written by Keira Knightly's mother(!) brilliantly captures the mood and the anxieties, fears and hopes of the time and by focusing on the main, slightly unhinged characters, enhances these emotions and mental stains. Everything is switched up to level 11 but behind a mask of British restraint and respectability. The story arc itself is both engaging and genuinely exciting - it's not a soppy love story or a chic-flick for the poetry reading set - it's set during the war after all!

As much as the story is great, one big problem is that it is mainly made-up nonsense. The characters and events were real but they didn't happen like this. The real facts actually sound just as interesting but probably they would not have had Keira Knightly looking quite so hot? Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, as they say!

I went to see this as the Edinburgh Film Festival the other day and I have to say I was a bit disappointed.

The score and the cinematography were lush and gorgeous and the acting was very good but the script lacked characterisation. I realise that Dylan Thomas was not meant to have been an overly pleasant man, but I failed to see why the seemingly likable, headstrong character of Vera Phillips ever fell in love with him. He came across as completely selfish and sleazy with virtually no redeeming qualities and it frustrated me that there seemed to be no explanation for every woman fawning over him. Characters made choices out of the blue and eventually I just grew to dislike all the characters I have loved in the first half.

What also grated about this film is that sometimes I swear I could have been watching 'Atonement' the amount of time Keira Knightley said "Come back to me." I really hope she wasn't trying to relive the glory of 'Atonement' through this film because I am afraid she will be sorely disappointed. Even though I personally did not enjoy 'Atonement' I can recognise that it is a marvellous film and sadly "The Edge of Love" just cannot compare.

Set during the Second World War in both London and Wales, this film portrays the complex relationships between four real-life characters: the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (played by Welsh actor Matthew Rhys abandoning his American accent from the US television series "Brothers And Sisters"), his Irish wife Caitlin MacNamara (British actress Sienna Miller), his first love Vera Phillips (another British actress Keira Knightley) and Vera's husband the British soldier Captain William Killick (Irish actor Cillian Murphy). Many of the incidents represented are a matter of record but other occurrences are simply speculation on the part of screenwriter Sharman Macdonald (Knightley's mother).

In truth, it is Keira Knightley's film. Her striking physiognomy always makes her a pleasure to watch, but this is the finest performance of her young (still only 23) career, as she effects a decent Welsh accent and even sings in a nuanced act of thespian of which she can be proud. Director John Maybury does not make the character or the poetry of Dylan Thomas any more accessible but the bonding and bruising between his wife and his lover make for a humanistic tale.

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas excused from serving in active duty is doing his bit for the war effort producing bits of prose for some propaganda branch of government in Whitehall.

Thomas is portrayed as a freethinker believing in free love married to a woman with an equally demanding artistic streak and likewise with a penchant for extramarital romance. Thomas writing and reciting his poetry in systematic domestic mayhem throughout becomes somewhat priggish towards the end, resting somewhat uncomfortably on his society connections and pulling rank on a war veteran, who had shot up his house, and who was incidentally married to the woman he had been having an affair with.

The real story of this film is the love of two women, one (Keira Knightley) whose first love was Thomas (Matthew Rhys), the second (Sienna Miller) who is Thomas's wife. At times it reminds of The Singing Detective, as in very good television with slightly sinister overtones laid on top of scenes of surreal camp absurdity.