Larry Darrell has the ideal life he grew up with the cultured class and has a beautiful girl that was once skinny now filled out. Her father as a perfect job waiting for him and all is right with the world. That is until the war and now Larry must find meaning in life and why one person lives and another doesn't. He may never find the answer but he must try. In the mean time life goes on around him. How will his search help or harm those around him?
"The Razors Edge" is a story by W. Somerset Maugham. Naturally to get the fullness of the story you will have to read the book. A closer to the book movie version (1946) was made with Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney (see my review). This version although closer to the book, however has Tyrone Power usurping some of the deeds the Summerset did in the book.
This movie version went one step further to place Bill Murray in the center stage and cut out a lot of the mystery along with Maugham. At first you will say this is not like the book (and it is not); but the modification emphasized the meaning of the book and by changing Larry from a flyer to an ambulance driver emphasized the question of why him and not me? So you can get a feel for the question Larry asks and not just be an observer. Larry's evolvement with Sophie MacDonald once again takes you out of the realm of an observer. Possibly to save time and enforce the "you are there" feel, W. Somerset Maugham was completely removed from the story. I really like Anne Baxter (1946) but I have to say that Theresa Russell (1984) made an excellent Sophie MacDonald.
Bottom line if you have nothing to compare the movie with it is watchable and insightful. However it is missing the Razor's Edge.
