The Razor's Edge

Plot synopsis:
Maugham begins by characterizing his story as not really a novel but a thinly veiled true account. He includes himself as a minor character, a writer who drifts in and out of the lives of the major players. Larry Darrell's lifestyle is contrasted throughout the book with that of his fiance's uncle, Elliott Templeton, an American expatriate living in Paris and a shallow and unrepentant yet generous snob. For example, while Templeton's Roman Catholicism embraces the hierarchical trappings of the Church, Larry's proclivities tend towards the 13th-century Flemish mystic and saint John of Ruysbroeck.
Wounded and traumatized by the death of a comrade in the War, Larry returns to Chicago, Illinois, and his fiancée, Isabel Bradley, only to announce that he does not plan to seek paid employment and instead will "loaf" on his small inheritance. He wants to delay their marriage and refuses to take up a job as a stockbroker offered to him by Henry Maturin, the father of his friend Gray. Meanwhile, Larry's childhood friend, Sophie, settles into a happy marriage, only later tragically losing her husband and baby in a car accident.
Larry moves to Paris and immerses himself in study and bohemian life. After two years of this "loafing," Isabel visits and Larry asks her to join his life of wandering and searching, living in Paris and travelling with little money. She cannot accept his vision of life and breaks their engagement to go back to Chicago. There she marries the millionaire Gray, who provides her a rich family life. Meanwhile, Larry begins a sojourn through Europe, taking a job at a coal mine in Lens, France, where he befriends a former Polish army officer named Kosti. Kosti's influence encourages Larry to look toward things spiritual for his answers rather than in books. Larry and Kosti leave the coal mine and travel together for a time before parting ways. Larry then meets a Benedictine monk named Father Ensheim in Bonn, Germany while Father Ensheim is on leave from his monastery doing academic research. After spending several months with the Benedictines and being unable to reconcile their conception of God with his own, Larry takes a job on an ocean liner and finds himself in Bombay.
Larry has significant spiritual adventures in India and comes back to Paris. What he actually found in India and what he finally concluded are held back from the reader for a considerable time until, in a scene late in the book, Maugham discusses India and spirituality with Larry in a café long into the evening. He starts off the chapter by saying "I feel it right to warn the reader that he can very well skip this chapter without losing the thread of the story as I have to tell, since for most part it is nothing more than the account of a conversation that I had with Larry. However, I should add that except for this conversation, I would perhaps not have thought it worthwhile to write this book ... ." Maugham then initiates the reader to 'Advaita philosophy' and reveals how, through deep meditation and contact with Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi, cleverly disguised as Sri Ganesha in the novel, Larry goes on to realise God -- thus becoming a saint—in the process having gained liberation from the cycle of human suffering, birth and death that the rest of the earthly mortals are subject to.
The 1929 stock market crash has ruined Gray, and he and Isabel are invited to live in her uncle Elliott Templeton's grand Parisian house. Gray is often incapacitated with agonising migraines due to a general nervous collapse. Larry is able to help him using an Indian form of hypnotic suggestion. Sophie has also drifted to the French capital, where her friends find her reduced to alcohol, opium, and promiscuity – empty and dangerous liaisons that seem to help her to bury her pain. Larry first sets out to save her and then decides to marry her, a plan that displeases Isabel, who is still in love with him.
Isabel tempts Sophie back into alcoholism with a bottle of Żubrówka, and she disappears from Paris. Maugham deduces this after seeing Sophie in Toulon, where she has returned to smoking opium and promiscuity. He is drawn back into the tale when police interrogate him after Sophie has been found murdered with an inscribed book from him in her room, along with volumes by Baudelaire and Rimbaud.
Meanwhile, in Antibes, Elliott Templeton is on his deathbed. Despite the fact that he has throughout his life compulsively sought out aristocratic society, none of his titled friends come to see him, which makes him alternately morose and irate. But his outlook on death is somewhat positive: "I have always moved in the best society in Europe, and I have no doubt that I shall move in the best society in heaven."
Isabel inherits his fortune, but genuinely grieves for her uncle. Maugham confronts her about Sophie, having figured out Isabel’s role in Sophie’s downfall. Isabel’s only punishment will be that she will never get Larry, who has decided to return to America and live as a common working man. He is uninterested in the rich and glamorous world that Isabel will move in. Maugham ends his narrative by suggesting that all the characters got what they wanted in the end: "Elliott social eminence; Isabel an assured position; . . . Sophie death; and Larry happiness."

Tags: murder

Review:
It was a 'curiosity pick': I liked the title, I didn't have anything else in mind, and my thought was, of course, "Bill Murray!?"It turned out to be one of my all-time favorite movies in the 'character-transformation' genre.It's a compelling story of choices in life and how those choices affect or disaffect perceptions of that life.
It is a palpable and comprehensible transformation - the movie draws us in, it allows us to change with him.The rest of the characters are well cast and provide definitive counterpoint to the protagonist - the bon-vivant aristocratic uncle Elliot who simply lives his life appreciatively, the unthinking and manipulative Isabel concerned only with her own comforts and social standing, the uncertain Sophie that allows her uncertainty to trap and destroy her, the practical yet contemplative Raaz who challenges Darrell's notion of things, constructively, and leads him to further his quest.
I read Maugham's book in the late 40s and saw the Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb film.
I saw this film when it first aired and recalled a young high school kid remarking to a friend upon exiting, "Man, this is a totally awesome movie."  I agree.
I think his performance in this film is every bit as good as his work in "Lost in Translation." Murray is far more flexible as an actor than he usually demonstrates or is given credit for.
The story goes that they respond with, "Sure, Bill, we'll make The Razor's Edge for you if you will make this little movie called Ghostbusters for us." He agreed and Paramount technically stuck to the deal, but they put no money into its promotion and it dead an untimely death.This is one of the great films of all-time and it is just a shame that more people have not seen it..
The dialogue is well written, the actors and actresses involved are excellent and believable in their roles, and the screenplay is spiritually faithful to the novel.Theresa Russel is a gem in this movie, as the troubled Sophie, but it is Bill Murray's portrayal of Larry that truly stands out here ...
Those who fail to see it's qualities can be divided fairly equally into the `don't get it' camp (Unlike the typical Hollywood lowest denominator flicks, the minimum IQ for viewing is Razor's Edge is probably at least 100, and that leaves ½ the population out), and the `disappointed' crowd, who have so typecast the star (Bill Murray) that they wanted `Caddyshack' and just can't allow him to be a serious actor.
Somerset Maugham novel, it follows the evolution of a spoiled upper class boy from Illinois (Larry, Bill Murray), who volunteers to be an ambulance driver in WW I for a little `fun and adventure' and instead gets a dose of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
Larry's journey took him to India, and Hindu religion, and then on to Tibet to discover Buddha-the scenes filmed there are absolutely breathtaking, so I hope you can find a letterbox laserdisc or they finally bring this out on DVD-it is worth it to see the whole screen.
Murray did not preach, he showed by example, whereas the early version was like a post-WWII government instructional film on how to attain karma.
Murray's performance was so subtle as even to be missed all together (in my opinion the best acting of all), whereas Power was begging you to see the light.Please, don't miss this film, and if you don't "get it" first time around, empty your mind of distracting clutter and see it again.
It's a nice film to look at, as the period and place production really sucks one into the story, and has what I thought of as a cozy pacing, but what some might think drags on a little (it was a great, alone-on-a-rainy-Sunday, laying-on-the-couch rental for me).The film does a good job of playing ideas with scenes, and playing the ideas/scenes off of seemingly drastically different ones, from the barren emptiness of a battlefield to the uplifting emptiness of the Himalayas, to the warm loneliness of a Paris café, to the cold loneliness of a rich man's death bed.This is obviously a true labor of love for Bill Murray.
Hopefully, now that somehow people can "accept" Bill Murray as not "just" an overtly comedic actor (with the success of "Lost in Translation") people will be more open to enjoying this very good film..
Maugham, in print form, often drags; Murray's senses of humor and timing eschew that hurdle and make a beautiful story of growth and epiphany accessible in just two short hours.The "test" aspect for me here is simple and a bit autocratic, if not downright arrogant as Hell; I don't want to know well anyone who does not appreciate this film..
On the back of Stripes and then Ghostbusters, people found it hard to accept the deadpan face of Murray fronting a movie examining belief systems and the meaning of life.The screenplay charts the spiritual and philosophical growth of Larry Darrell (Murray) as he begins to question the materialist world building up around him.
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.
As much as I enjoyed his work before and after this film, his career development appears stunted.In this film, Murray is brilliant and convincing as Larry Darrow, a man searching for his soul's peace, after a brutal event "awakened" him from his posh aristocratic life.Murray is a comic genius, but his abilities as a dramatic actor have been woefully underused..
Who'd a thunk it!Having watched both the original and this remake numerous times, I believe Bill Murray brings an interesting variation to the main role over Tyrone Power.Watch this film many times.You'll grasp it's deep meaning.(Read the book as well ...
And finally, Jack Nitzsche's score; very elegant, and though it mainly relies on a recurring motif of strings that sounds very similar to Morricone's 'Time of Destiny', it actually works rather well and is genuinely moving.In the end, 'Razor's Edge' is an ambitious failure, but not a boring or indulgent one at least.
Watching it 10 years later, I am still impressed by Bill Murray's performance, and thank the heavens he insisted on making this movie.
Let me start by saying this movie inspired me to "think" like the protagonist who dared to ask the meaning of life and did something to answer it.
Despite all the obligatory jibes he received as a funnyman branching out into a straight role, Bill Murray is perfect as the World War I veteran searching for some meaning to life.
Adapted from Somerset Maugham's book of the same name, this is one of the very few films I can think of with the same breadth, complexity and sustained power of absorption as a great novel.
Larry Darrell (Bill Murray) with his girlfriend Isabel Bradley (Catherine Hicks), his best friend Gray Maturin (James Keach) and Sophie MacDonald (Theresa Russell) live a comfortable upper class life.
I recall enjoying immensely the sweep of the film; but having read the book, I worried that too many viewers wouldn't "get it" since this Somerset Maugham novel, like Of Human Bondage, would be a challenge to translate to film.
Murray kinda split the difference, which I think is one weak point of an overall enjoyable film.Now, having just revisited the same movie via NetFlix, my original opinion hasn't changed -- but I still really like this movie, despite its unevenness and quirks.
It all comes together eventually, but I just think of those folks sitting behind me, whispering, "Where the heck are they now?"Bill Murray has since made "Lost in Translation" and "Broken Flowers" and, for those who enjoyed those films, one beauty of Razor's Edge is seeing him in his first serious film.
What may be hard for first-time viewers of Razor's Edge is to understand how Maugham's novel -- in which Larry spends the first half seeking the meaning of life -- defied the conventional assumption, and didn't really dwell on anything so profound as the search itself.I very much enjoyed revisiting this movie after 20+ years ...
to begin with, the story is so skipped between particular points that it just gets meaningless about 1/3 into it...i have read and enjoyed the book as one of the treasures of western literature, as it creates bridges, and, for the time of its writing, is probably one of the first threads between mass communication and the concept of enlightenment...it is a spiritual book in its entirety, and the movie has nothing to do with that...the most important moment in the book passes unnoticed in the movie, and not only that, it can be considered to not have happened in the plot...and i cannot understand why, actually...
Besides everything else, i have the feeling that there was absolutely no research and no depth also in the director's reading of the book, which is disrespectful to say the least...The book is a testament on life, this movie is just a story with iconic characters in a 100% mundane setting...
This movie shouldn't be called The Razor's Edge, it is a destructive non-tribute to it, in the hands of a director that probably thought he was better at telling a story than Maugham himself, or whose constricted religious beliefs came clashing in with Maugham's religion free spirituality...Or to put it bluntly, i get the feeling that a story about enlightenment was told by somebody that believes in heaven and hell...
The Bill Murray film helped change my life, empowering me to quit a bad job.
Taking a break from his goof-ball roles, Bill Murray starred in this serious movie about a man's search for meaning.
The big buzz of course comes from early Bill Murray long before his recent renaissance.I found this to extremely enjoying, well paced, well acted and a marvelous adaptation of a much loved book.
Bill Murray takes on an entirely different role in the film The Razor's Edge - a serious one.
Try as I may I expected at numerous points in the film Dan Ackroyd and the rest coming on accompanied by the Ghostbusters theme.It's the same plot for the most part, Murray begs off his expected engagement and marriage to Catherine Hicks saying he wants to go to Europe.
After Murray and Hicks have been reunited in Paris along comes Theresa Russell playing the part of Sophie for which Anne Baxter got a Best Supporting Actress Award.
Sorry folks, call me old fashioned, but having seen the original "Razor's Edge" several times, I was VERY disappointed with the Bill Murray version.
In short, I thought the Bill Murray version of "Razor's Edge" was EXTREMELY ho-hum, and I gave it a "one-star" rating because this movie is a very big insult to those of us who appreciate fine romantic drama, and I mean "romantic" not just in the interpersonal "falling in love" sense, I mean it with a big, capital "R".
I read the book again after watching the movie trying to like it--no luck.
I believe you should not make comments on a film that is a remake until you have watched the original, in this case The Razor's Edge (1946).To bleat out that Bill Murray was perfect for this role is a bit presumptive when you haven't seen Tyrone Power do the role.Bill is a great actor, no doubt, but so was Tyrone Power.The supporting cast of Herbert Marshall, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Anne Baxter and John Payne were top form as well.It doesn't help others to comment in the subjective, "What this film meant to me", "I thought it was the greatest", etc., opinion seems to be more important than a honest critic of the film.
I thank Summerset Maugham and Bill Murray for bringing this movie to life for me.
Set against the backdrop of the events before, during, and after World War I, the character Larry seems like an example of an everyman in the world at large then, coming out of an ignorant innocence into an age of serious consequences.The actors all do a great job here of making the story very believable...
Murray, Russell, Hicks, and all, really add the character depth that makes a story reach into your heart and move you.When I first saw this movie, it really affected me, as I had also started a path into Eastern philosophy.
This unbalanced conflict causes our character to go to lengths to find out what adventure, life, and love exactly has to do with ultimate fulfillment (if, in fact, that is at all possible).Of course in the journey itself there is danger one may miss the most important thing, that defining love, that which is real above all else...a true connection that isn't fleeting as pursuits, contests, or monetary gain.In a very melancholy way The Razor's Edge is hauntingly, beautifully, as well as brutally saying: Love is Life, Life is Short: Don't waste the time you have seeking something only found when you stop looking and start loving.
From the searching heart of Larry Darrell and the wall of addiction that Sophie hides behind to the jealous scheming of Isabel's envy the arc of this journey plays out.The Razor's Edge is not a flawless gem and neither does it offer any secrets to the meaning of life but it makes a valiant effort and in the end it touched my soul and reminded me what it is to be alive.I recommend this film without reservation.KWC.
Also, Bill Murray wrote a monologue in the movie about a character who dies which he wrote in actuality for John Belushi(it makes the scene a lot more endearing seeing it now after knowing that fact).
Murray makes a valiant effort at playing one of the most complicated characters of our time in Larry Darrell.
But again, knowing that Murray wanted to play this role so bad and that he even wrote the movie along with other screenwriters, makes me like Murray all the more.
This version of The Razor's Edge has a Terrific Music Score, you would think this is a great movie by how great the music score is, and the movie is almost great, but like Murray's performance, it's hit and miss.
He seeks personal fulfillment which leads him from America to France to India, and back again.There are some great Parisian scenes in here, and if you like the City of Lights, you may very well enjoy this movie simply for its on location footage in Paris.Bill Murray differs from his customary roles like in Ghostbusters, and plays a serious character in this movie.
If you like Bill then go ahead and watch it, but if you don't, then take the same two hours to start reading Maugham's book, because it will be a much better use of your time.
not much to recommend it unless you JUST want to be dragged down by a story whose moral is 'there is no payoff to life'.Yes, Bill Murray can act, but you wouldn't know it by watching this one.
It is by far the worst movie I've ever seen.Bill Murray is still a fine actor.
The whole searching for the meaning of life thing was a good taste on the story, but after he comes back, then this movie just takes a huge turn.
But we also see an actor who had carefully studied his role and is totally believable as Larry, the man who goes on a journey of self-discovery after witnessing terrible things in war.I remember the radio ads, featuring Murray, that were aired at the time of this film's release.
However, the movie lags due to Murray's acting abilities (of the time).
I love Bill Murray, and I believe if he were to make this movie today he would give an amazing performance.
'The Razor's Edge' failed at the box office not because of the audience's dashed expectation of Bill Murray's risky acting attempt at drama and utter apathy, but simply because the film is deadlier slow-paced, slothful, pointless, frustrating, wholly incoherent, disjointed and dreadful wallowing in Oscar-winning-conscious self-importance pretending to be a top-notch quality serious drama movie.
I have never before seen a supposedly serious movie with ALL false moments--not a single scene anywhere in this film rang true-to-life.
There's an interesting back story to it too, with Murray writing the script and refusing to be paid for his actual acting in the film.
(In truth, Murray agreed to a be Ghostbuster only to secure financing for this labor of love.) For anyone who thought the mediocre "Lost in Translation" was a revelation, they clearly have never seen Murray in "The Razor's Edge." The past 22 years, I've been telling friends to watch this movie.
Unique among Bill Murray's other works, this two hour plus film adaptation of the short Somerset Maugham novel is a real gem.
A dangerous film to view with expectations, the Razor's Edge has some incongruities that stick out and get in the way of the story, or theme, or exploration, or whatever this movie was about.We all love Bill Murray, but this role he's doing alot of the Bill Murray "schtick", you know the funny remark spoken deadpan that highlights his comedic work.
Frankly, if you want a Bill Murray movie that discusses the meaning of life, watch Groundhog Day..
Many think "Lost in Translation" was better but they probably never watched The Razor's Edge, nor read the book.
But listening to my own criticisms of Eat, Pray, love, I had to think back to one of my own personal favorite films, the Bill Murray version of The Razor's Edge.
The bad people in A Razor's Edge end up being so much more reprehensible than those in Eat, Pray, Love, and yet you end up hating the lead character in the latter film oh so much more for being so banal.
"The Razor's Edge" is Bill Murray's first serious movie.