Larry Darrell is one of those enigmatic characters that every actor dreams of playing. Larry Darrell embodies something that the human spirit always longs for, meaning. Therefore the Character of Larry Darrell is the incarnate for that 'Search' of whatever void there is in a persons soul. And the longing to fill that void.
I like Bill Murray even better than I did before when I found out more about the history behind him doing this role. Mr. Murray really wanted to do this film and play this character as he identified with the character in a lot of ways. 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).
The Razor's Edge is one of my favorite books by W. Somerset Maugham and it was turned into a movie years before this one with Tyrone Power. Power played Darrell very well, he embodied Larry Darrell's unattainable quality to a tee. However, so did Bill Murray, in just a very different way Murray did. Bill Murray plays Larry with such an indifference, where you will see Murray in many scenes with a Blank Look or Murray's usual Dead Pan face. Murray makes a valiant effort at playing one of the most complicated characters of our time in Larry Darrell. The performance Bill Murray gives is hit and miss. However, whether Murray meant to or not, the character of Larry Darrell is very hit and miss as well. Darrell is unattainable, enigmatic, confusing, and perhaps wild at heart, and also perhaps there's nothing going on in Darrell's head or there is so much going on in Darrell's head, you never know from reading the book nor from the movies. So with that said, Murray playing the character the way he did might have been spot on.
It's kind of to the eye of the beholder, and in some ways I do think Murray's Blank Stare and Dead Pan features were perfect for how Larry Darrell is. So in some ways, I think Murray made some very good choices on purpose or not on purpose in playing Darrell, but also in my subjective opinion, there were other scenes that I wish he would have made different choices on.
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. Bill Murray is a great actor, very underrated in his greatness.
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. Some scenes in the movie are very powerful and great(Some scenes are some of the best you will ever see in my opinion). And some scenes aren't so great, they're kind of off, etc.(again, my subjective opinion).
Theresa Russell gives an absolutely terrific performance as Sophie. I believe Russell would have been nominated for an academy award for her performance of Sophie, but the fact remains that in the Tyrone Power version made years ago, Anne Baxter was just as exceptional in the role of Sophie, and Anne Baxter was nominated and she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in that role. Both Baxter and Russell were equally terrific in that role and it's tough to say who I like better, very tough to say in fact. Which I really can't, they're equally great.
Finally, there's a scene in the movie that hits it right on the money. The book had this particular scenario go a different way as the Tyrone Power version stayed true to the book in this particular scene(basically this particular scene in the Murray version didn't exist in the book or Tyrone Power version).
However, I don't know if Murray wrote this scene or not, but the book should have written this part into it, the way it's written and executed in the Murray version. It's an extremely powerful scene and true to the characters. It's a scene where Darrell tries to rescue Sophie from some bad men(I'll just say that without spoiling the scene). Bill Murray plays this very difficult scene terrifically as does Russell, and again, the book doesn't have this, but I wish it would have, it's much more effective in this Murray version.
Larry Darrell is a tough character to play. Other actors who have played a similar type of character are Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall(which Brad Pitt played that type of part perfectly I thought, in more of a romantic kind of way)as well as Peter Gallagher in Underneath and also Richard Tyson in Two Moon Junction(where he plays the mysteriousness of that type of character well, even though he's more of a cad and playboy Lothario, but still deep in his enigmatic qualities).
I like Bill Murray even better than I did before when I found out more about the history behind him doing this role. Mr. Murray really wanted to do this film and play this character as he identified with the character in a lot of ways. 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).
The Razor's Edge is one of my favorite books by W. Somerset Maugham and it was turned into a movie years before this one with Tyrone Power. Power played Darrell very well, he embodied Larry Darrell's unattainable quality to a tee. However, so did Bill Murray, in just a very different way Murray did. Bill Murray plays Larry with such an indifference, where you will see Murray in many scenes with a Blank Look or Murray's usual Dead Pan face. Murray makes a valiant effort at playing one of the most complicated characters of our time in Larry Darrell. The performance Bill Murray gives is hit and miss. However, whether Murray meant to or not, the character of Larry Darrell is very hit and miss as well. Darrell is unattainable, enigmatic, confusing, and perhaps wild at heart, and also perhaps there's nothing going on in Darrell's head or there is so much going on in Darrell's head, you never know from reading the book nor from the movies. So with that said, Murray playing the character the way he did might have been spot on.
It's kind of to the eye of the beholder, and in some ways I do think Murray's Blank Stare and Dead Pan features were perfect for how Larry Darrell is. So in some ways, I think Murray made some very good choices on purpose or not on purpose in playing Darrell, but also in my subjective opinion, there were other scenes that I wish he would have made different choices on.
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. Bill Murray is a great actor, very underrated in his greatness.
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. Some scenes in the movie are very powerful and great(Some scenes are some of the best you will ever see in my opinion). And some scenes aren't so great, they're kind of off, etc.(again, my subjective opinion).
Theresa Russell gives an absolutely terrific performance as Sophie. I believe Russell would have been nominated for an academy award for her performance of Sophie, but the fact remains that in the Tyrone Power version made years ago, Anne Baxter was just as exceptional in the role of Sophie, and Anne Baxter was nominated and she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in that role. Both Baxter and Russell were equally terrific in that role and it's tough to say who I like better, very tough to say in fact. Which I really can't, they're equally great.
Finally, there's a scene in the movie that hits it right on the money. The book had this particular scenario go a different way as the Tyrone Power version stayed true to the book in this particular scene(basically this particular scene in the Murray version didn't exist in the book or Tyrone Power version).
However, I don't know if Murray wrote this scene or not, but the book should have written this part into it, the way it's written and executed in the Murray version. It's an extremely powerful scene and true to the characters. It's a scene where Darrell tries to rescue Sophie from some bad men(I'll just say that without spoiling the scene). Bill Murray plays this very difficult scene terrifically as does Russell, and again, the book doesn't have this, but I wish it would have, it's much more effective in this Murray version.
Larry Darrell is a tough character to play. Other actors who have played a similar type of character are Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall(which Brad Pitt played that type of part perfectly I thought, in more of a romantic kind of way)as well as Peter Gallagher in Underneath and also Richard Tyson in Two Moon Junction(where he plays the mysteriousness of that type of character well, even though he's more of a cad and playboy Lothario, but still deep in his enigmatic qualities).