The Razor's Edge (1984)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

i must have seen a different film!!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I agree with everything those who love this film have said about Bill Murray. I had trouble with Catherine Hicks at first, feeling she wasn't powerful enough. But with each viewing I find she really captures the shallowness of Isabel.

A soldier returning home after WWI travels to Nepal to seek enlightenment and peace within himself. The story is a very clever one about not only what is enlightenment but about who seeks it and how they seek it.After watching this movie in the 1980s, many parts of the movie still stick in mind as poignant. This movie is famous for having flopped at the box office, and was only made in the first place to get Bill Murray to star in Ghost Busters. So let's face it, spiritual journeys of self-entitled people are not something everyone is going to enjoy, but at the same time, some people will find a message and love this movie.

Elegant but facile version of the Maugham novel, a passion project for Murray who is good in parts of the film but flat in others. On it's own an okay film hampered by over-length but compared to the Tyrone Power/Gene Tierney original, which has its own problems, it's a pale shadow. A good deal of the fault for that lies in both the direction and the performances. The general ennui of the performances may in fact be laid at the director's feet. All are capable actors as they've shown elsewhere but here be it a mismatch of actor/actress and part or lack of direction most founder. Theresa Russell does the film's best work but even her Sophie is missing the bruised sorrow that made Anne Baxter's take on the part so compelling and won her the Oscar for best supporting actress. James Keach evaporates from the screen in a rather thankless role that John Payne managed to make an impression in with a show of quiet strength. Surprisingly the weakest of the star spots is Catherine Hicks, usually a very fine actress, adrift in her part. She exudes a warm presence on screen totally wrong for the heartless, mindlessly cruel Isabel that Gene Tierney playing with an icy edge made vivid.A good try but only average.

When I saw this movie years ago, I probably gave it a five. I wasn't ready to fully get the message. My partner has always loved this movie, so I gave it another shot tonight and it touched all the bases for me. The last couple of years we discovered Paris so the Paris scenes were great. As a Veteran and peace activist, the PTSD angle was right in my wheel house. Bill Murray is fascinating. In real life he is a seeker who travels alone and just shows in the most unlikely places. There is a sadness to him under the wise guy persona. You cansee why he wanted to make this movie. There is a lot of Larry Darrell in him! The rest of cast did a wonderful job, Therese Russell was a revelation and Catherine Hicks had the unenviable task of making people not like, which she accomplished.