Walking the Edge (1985).
“I am no coward but I’m no hero either.”
Directed by Norbert Meisel
Written by Curt Allen
Starring Robert Forster, Nancy Kwan, A Martinez, a few bad guys, and tight t-shirts.
The Stage.
Jason, a cab driver who also collects debts for his boss, takes a fare that brings him more trouble than he could have imagined. Now he’s stuck with her and he’s got three goons hunting him down throughout the city.
The Review.
Where do I even start showering my newfound love for Walking the Edge? This one completely snuck up on me and I honestly loved every second of it. Let’s start with the writing, because I think that’s one of the movie’s strongest points, specifically the dialogue. Now I don’t know if it’s due to the words on the page or the actors involved, but every line feels so real, so genuine, just pitch perfect for the grimy 80’s setting. People are quipping one-liners but nothing ever sounds cheesy and the back and forth dialogue is like an intricate dance, reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino. At one point a bad guy dies, and Jason blurts out “Say hello to hot weather, you filthy fuckin’ scum.” Curt Allen wrote the screenplay and I guess I’ll need to see something else he’s done to really understand where the credit should go, because every actor in this film is magnificent.
Robert Forster plays Jason, an ex-baseball player turned cabbie who is just tired of getting pushed around. We see him go from a verbal punching bag to a man on the edge, a guy who isn’t a hero to a vigilante doling out justice. Forster was a goddamn force of nature in this film, just fantastic. The co-MVP of Walking the Edge is his best friend, a fellow cab driver named Tony who’s played by A. Martinez. Tony is loyal to a fault, giving Jason only the best advice at all times - if only we all had friends as good as Tony. He’s got a short amount of screen time, but I’ll be damned if he didn’t do everything he could with those precious minutes. The trio of scumbags who are after Jason and the woman he’s hiding are your typical 80’s bad guys who are just kind of bad because they like being bad. There’s no depth to them but they will make you hate them. The dynamics between the three were actually quite interesting, because they seemingly hate each other, but come together when there’s nefarious activity at hand.
The film isn’t too gory and it’s not exploitative, although you can see it in its roots. It is gritty, and shows off 80’s Los Angeles which was cool. Really the only thing I didn’t love about Walking the Edge was the love story that was kind of shoehorned in and seemed pretty unnatural, especially considering the mindset of Christine, played by Nancy Kwan.
The End.
I loved Walking the Edge, I loved it so much. It’s one of those films that felt like lightning in a bottle, and I’m wondering why it didn’t propel some of the people involved into bigger things. Maybe it wasn’t as well received in 1985 or maybe I’m in the minority for some reason, I don’t know, but what I do know is that the next time I’m looking to write quick-witted dialogue in one of my screenplays, I’m going to look to Walking the Edge as a blueprint. And Robert Forster, people need to start including him in lists of the greatest actors of his generation, he was just so good at what he did.
This disc was put out by Fun City and they really put a lot into it. The picture looks great and the audio is crisp and clear. There are two full length audio commentaries and a twenty minute interview that rounds out the extras.
