Walking the Edge (1985) – Director: Norbert Meisel – 5/10 (okay/decent)
This agreeable piece of pulp fiction is quintessentially mid-eighties in that it still contains much of the 1970s grunge, but with some glimmers of the 1980s glitz already starting to show up, even the soundtrack is ‘analog-synthy’ and ‘saxy’ in equal measure as though constituting an aesthetic bridge of sorts between the two eras, though given that it apparently took three years for the movie to hit the streets, it is more of an early eighties work. All in all, this is a conspicuously low-budgeted production in the sense that the acting is on the hammy side and the rendition is a tad wonky in the low-budget sort of way, meaning that some scenes are edited in a slightly abnormal fashion and certain takes do not line up quite perfectly, though this is not much of an issue and constitutes more of a differentiating quirk rather than a veritable encumbrance to the narrative. Forster puts in a gratifying performance, duly accommodating his acting to the tentative, grumpy disposition of his character and thereby, amplifying the offbeat tone of the movie. The narrative admittedly gets somewhat muddled just prior to the climax, especially what with the way it lingers over one nasty torture scene at one point, but it thankfully does not get inordinately sidetracked by exploitative considerations. The central character arc is quite basic and nothing to write home about really, though to be fair, the writing turns out predominantly competent with due regard for the viewer.
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