The Edge

Getting back to nature in the Alaskan hinterland, billionaire Charles Morse (Hopkins) peruses a tattered book, Lost in the Wild. Soon a plane crash allows him to show off his encyclopedic memory, coping with shame, fear, hunger and the elements, plus a smarmy photographer (Baldwin) and his wounded assistant (Perrineau, who should have 'Dead Meat' tattooed on his forehead). Moreover, there's a Kodiak bear on their trail. This boasts an original screenplay by David Mamet and enough outdoor pursuit to fill a men's monthly for a year. They've even worked in a cameo by Elle Macpherson as the wife who may or may not be fooling around behind Morse's back. This last plot wrinkle gives the boys something to thrash out. The movie's on stronger ground with the rudiments of survivalism, in particular the long central battle with the bear, so exciting it makes everything afterwards seem anti-climactic. Hopkins keeps his hamminess in check, and Baldwin finds layers of insidious charm, frailty and menace.