The Edge

This is one more restive examination of frayed male interactions from the pen of David Mamet (The Untouchables and House of Games) that rips two urbanites from the comforts of civilization and plunges them into the unforgiving harshness of the wild. Billionaire Anthony Hopkins and photographer Alec Baldwin survive a plane crash in Alaska's remote grizzly country, then spend the rest of the film avoiding the hot jaws of a rampaging bear. As if that weren't enough, the plot morphs into a battle of egos when Hopkins finds evidence that Baldwin is having an affair with his wife (Elle Macpherson).

Those accustomed to Mamet's ingenious, tight, terse twists will be disappointed: he's formed the shells of two dull, barely likable characters and sent them off into the wilderness in the hope they'll create a dark character study. Hopkins and Baldwin smolder with intensity, and the direction by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors) is crisp, but the real stars are the breathtaking Alaskan landscape and Bart the bear. Opens Friday at the Harbour Mall, Narragansett, Opera House, Showcase, Tri-Boro, Westerly, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Tom Meek