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''The Razor's Edge'' is a 1984 American
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
film directed and co-written by John Byrum starring Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks,
Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1 ...
, Brian Doyle-Murray, and James Keach. The film is an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel ''
The Razor's Edge ''The Razor's Edge'' is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. The story beg ...
''. This marked Murray's first starring role in a dramatic film, though he did inject some of his dry wit into the script. The book's epigraph is dramatized as advice from the Katha Upanishad: "The path to salvation is narrow and as difficult to walk as a razor's edge."


Plot

In Illinois in 1917, just before the United States joins World War I, a fair has been planned to raise money to support Gray Maturin and Larry Darrell, who are joining the war in Europe as ambulance drivers. Larry looks forward to returning home to marry his longtime sweetheart Isabel. Larry shares a final night with Isabel watching the fireworks along with Gray, their close friend Sophie, and her husband Bob. At the front, commanding officer Piedmont schools his new men on the harsh reality of war. For example, he has both of them armed, because in spite of it being an ambulance unit and America's neutrality, the enemy can and will kill those helping the Allies. He also destroys the headlights and windows of a fellow ambulance truck because the lights will signal enemies to their unit. Larry adapts quickly, shooting the headlights and windows of his own truck. Larry witnesses the deaths of soldiers and fellow ambulance drivers, and is in constant danger. By the time America is deeply in the war, Larry's unit is down to a few men. During an unexpected encounter with German soldiers, Piedmont is fatally stabbed trying to block a German soldier from shooting a wounded Larry. The war ends not long after, and when Gray and he return to America, Larry suffers survivor's guilt and realizes that his life has changed. His plans to join Gray in working for Gray's father as a stockbroker will not make him happy, so he puts off his engagement to Isabel and travels to Paris in an effort to find meaning in his life. Isabel's uncle, Elliott Templeton, assures her that some time in Paris will help clear Larry's mind and take away any jitters he has about marriage. Instead of following Elliott's suggestions of staying at first-class hotels and wining and dining with the aristocracy, Larry lives a simple life, reading philosophy books in a cheap hotel. He finds work, first as a fish packer, then as a coal miner. After saving the life of a coworker by pushing him out of the way of an out-of-control mine car, he has a conversation about books with the elder miner. The miner discusses a Russian magician's book, lends a copy of the
Upanishads The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
, and suggests that Larry travel to India to gain a different perspective. In India, Larry joins a
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
monastery. As an exercise, he hikes to the top of a snow-covered mountain and meditates alone. After running out of firewood, he starts to burn books that he brought along. He finds his sense of inner peace. A monk lets him know that his journey is not over, that "the path to salvation is narrow and as difficult to walk as a razor's edge." Returning to Paris, Larry first re-encounters Elliott, who lets him know that many things have changed, notably that Isabel has married Gray. (She had ended her relationship with Larry after a disastrous reunion in Paris not long after he first arrived.) They have had two children. Gray and Isabel were forced to move to Elliot's house in Paris after the Great Depression bankrupted Gray's livelihood. His spirit was also shattered when his father committed suicide after the crash. Larry learns that, while he was gone, Sophie lost both Bob and her child in a car accident and turned to alcohol, opium, and prostitution. Larry immediately attempts to reform Sophie, and after a period of time, they become engaged. Isabel insists that she will buy Sophie a wedding dress as a gift. During their conversation, Isabel admits she still loves Larry and condemns Sophie, labeling her a burden on Larry. She is interrupted by a phone call and leaves Sophie alone with a bottle of liquor. Larry searches for Sophie and finds her at an opium den with her former pimp. After a confrontation, Larry is left bleeding in the street with a black eye, while Sophie stays in the establishment. The next morning, Larry is awakened by two men at the door and brought to the morgue to identify Sophie's body. Her throat had been slashed by a razor. Larry then goes to Elliott's house to try to figure out what went wrong the previous day. Elliott has had a stroke and has been given his last rites. Larry confronts Isabel about what happened and forces her to admit her role in driving Sophie back to the bottle. She tells Larry what she did is no different from Larry ruining their relationship by running off to find the meaning of his "goddammed life", but she admits that she still loves him and did not want anyone (including Sophie) to hurt him the way she, Isabel, had been hurt when Larry left her for the war. Before Larry can respond, they are interrupted by the final moments of Elliott's life. Larry does a good deed for Elliott by convincing him that the Parisian aristocrats have not forgotten about him. (He had been waiting for an invitation to a costume party thrown by a French princess.) After Elliott dies, Larry comforts the grief-stricken Isabel. He admits that his journey was about trying to lead a good life that would make him worthy of Piedmont's sacrifice. Isabel and he part on reasonable terms, and he says his goodbyes to her and to Gray. He states his intention to depart for home, which prompts the question "Where is home?" He replies, "America".


Cast

* Bill Murray as Larry Darrell * Theresa Russell as Sophie MacDonald * Catherine Hicks as Isabel Bradley *
Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1 ...
as Elliott Templeton * James Keach as Gray Maturin * Peter Vaughan as Mackenzie * Brian Doyle-Murray as Piedmont * Faith Brook as Louisa Bradley * Saeed Jaffrey as Raaz *
Richard Oldfield Richard Oldfield (born 1950) is an American film and television actor who has worked mostly in Britain. Born in the US, Oldfield moved to Britain in the 1960s. His stage debut was in the musical '' Hair'' at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's We ...
as Doug Van Allen * André Maranne as Joseph, the Butler * Bruce Boa as Maturin


Production


Development

According to an interview with director John Byrum published on August 8, 2006 in the ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'', he had wanted to film an adaptation of Maugham's book in the early 1980s. The director brought a copy of the book to his friend Margaret "Mickey" Kelley, who was in the hospital after giving birth. Byrum remembers getting a call the next day at 4:00 am, "and it was Mickey's husband, Bill
urray Urray ( gd, Urrath) is a scattered village and coastal parish, consisting of Easter, Old and Wester Urray and is located in the county of Ross in the Scottish council area of the Highland. Urray is also a parish in the district of Wester Ross an ...
He said, 'This is Larry, Larry Darrell.'" Byrum and Murray drove across America while writing the screenplay. What they had written did not resemble the previous film version. Murray included a farewell speech to his recently deceased friend John Belushi in the script; this appears as Larry Darrell's farewell speech to Piedmont, a fellow ambulance driver in World War I. While Murray was attached to the project, Byrum had trouble finding a studio to finance it. At one stage, 20th Century Fox planned to make it. Murray wanted to play the part because "it was a different kind of character, calmer, more self-aware."
Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...
suggested that Murray could appear in ''
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, ...
'' for
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...
in exchange for the studio's approving to make ''The Razor's Edge.'' Murray agreed and a deal was made with Columbia.


Filming

For the next year and a half, cast and crew shot on location in France, Switzerland, and India with a $12 million budget. The Indian locations were primarily in the Indian Himalayas. After the last day of principal photography, Murray left to make ''Ghostbusters.'' Executive Producer Rob Cohen said, "It's a timeless story about someone looking for values in this world. It's about a transition. Well, who can make a more extreme transition, somebody like Bill Hurt, who looks pensive to begin with, and will wind up simply a little more spiritual than he was in the first place, or a Bill Murray, who can begin as the class clown, go to war, come back, and having had traumatic experiences, start to question?"


Reception

The film was a commercial failure, grossing a little more than $6 million, half of its $12 million production budget.


Critical response

Janet Maslin of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called the film "slow, overlong, and ridiculously overproduced," as well as "so disjointed that Mr. Murray, for all his wise-cracking inappropriateness, is all that holds it together."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and judged the movie "flawed," pointing to the hero as "too passive, too contained, too rich in self-irony, to really sweep us along in his quest." He placed the blame on Murray's shoulders, saying he "plays the hero as if fate is a comedian and he is the straight man". Todd McCarthy of '' Variety'' wrote, "Conceived as a major career departure for comic star Bill Murray, ''The Razor's Edge'' emerges as a minimally acceptable adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's superb novel. Tonally inconsistent and structurally awkward, film does develop some dramatic interest in the second half, but inherent power of the material is never realized." Gene Siskel of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' gave the film three stars out of four and remarked that "the movie stands or falls on whether Murray is able to disappear into his character of a young man searching for meaning in life after experiencing the horror of World War I. The feeling here is that Murray successfully meets that challenge by playing his character with both a quick comic tongue and with soulful eyes. His character's sense of humor is vintage Murray; his soulfulness is deep and genuine." Patrick Goldstein of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' wrote, "It's possible that moviegoers will find this mystic glider ride to the snowcapped peaks of the Himalayas painfully earnest, especially for a comic of Murray's wise-guy gifts. But Murray, in his first serious role, is anything but miscast. He's perhaps the best thing about this intriguing but stubbornly ineffectual drama that only fitfully revives the dated charm of Maugham's rambling, meditative novel." Paul Attanasio of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' wrote that "this longtime pet project of Murray's will only disappoint his fans," finding the juxtaposition of Murray's comedic sensibility with the 1920s setting "jarringly bizarre" and the supporting cast "uniformly lousy." Since its release, ''The Razor's Edge'' has developed something of a following, and criticism has softened. Nathan Rabin of '' The A.V. Club'', reviewing the film in 2007, felt, "If ''The Razor's Edge'' is ultimately a failure, it's an honest, noble one", and that there were "all manner of minor pleasures to be gleaned along the way." As of January 2020, review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
gives the film a 50% rating based on 16 reviews. Murray stated he deluded himself that there would be major interest in the film as a period piece, while the studio wanted to make a modern movie. Afterwards Murray realized his mistake, but said he still would have found the experience worth it if the film had never been released.


See also

*''
The Razor's Edge ''The Razor's Edge'' is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. The story beg ...
'', a 1946 adaptation with Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney


References


External links

* * *
''The Razor's Edge Film Site''
called www.theoldcorner.org.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Razors Edge, The 1984 films 1984 drama films American drama films Columbia Pictures films Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios Films scored by Jack Nitzsche Films based on British novels Films based on works by W. Somerset Maugham Films set in India Films set in Paris Films set in the 1910s Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films shot in France Films shot in India Films shot in Switzerland 1980s English-language films 1980s American films