What one man can do, another can do

What do you do, when pushed to the limit, pushed to the edge? When the sole option is to fight with hope or die of shame. Well, some give up and some fight no matter what. It’s the time when the universe challenges you and dares you to stand and show to it what you are really made of. It asks those questions time and again: Do you believe in yourself? Do you have faith in your abilities? Do you have the tact and are you smart enough to apply your brain to really think for the right answers and guide others along the way, come up with a plan no matter what the situation? Can you provide the next step to your fellow and friends looking for a ray of hope in darkness? In short, are you a fighter or a quitter?

The movie “The Edge” portrays this situation acutely and with a charm beyond description. It tells the story of a billionaire gentleman named Charles in his sixties, played by Anthony Hopkins who gets lost in the woods along with two of his friends while on a vacation. Charles is a soft-spoken, well-mannered, quiet yet smart, calm and collected and a know-all person. He has knowledge of the world that extends well beyond his own domain of business and money. But what really separates him from the rest of the people is his amazing ability to apply the knowledge he gathers from his reading in practical world. Alec Baldwin plays Bob, one of Charles’s buddies. Bob is a out-and-running fashion photographer and is closely associated with Charles’ charming young wife Nicky who is his photo-model.

When the three men find themselves lost in the woods, Bob and Steve look up to Charles for moves. Charles doesn’t disappoint and gets them underway into a self-rescue mission. He quickly magnetizes a needle rubbing it with his sweater and places it on a leaf on water and needle shows them the direction they need to take to reach home. When his friends think it’s too amazing to be true and show disbelief, Charles says, “Just because you are lost in the woods, doesn’t mean your compass is broken” and they get going. But this is not the end of their troubles; they now need to keep away from a man-eating bear chasing them. Despite all their efforts to keep away from the bear, during the first night in a head-on battle with the bear they lose their buddy Steve. Although, mentally shattered the duo continue on their track while the man-eater is still on their trail.

The other twist to the plot is that Bob has been having an affair with Nicky and Charles happens to know about it. So Charles always has this at the back of his mind and fears that Bob won’t even think twice if given an opportunity to murder him for his pretty wife and money. But his opinion changes when Bob once saves his life. As the two continue their relentless track through the unforgiving wild, they hear a rescue chopper moving through the sky twice, but both times it doesn’t spot them. With all events going against them and even the last of the matches exhausted, Bob quickly begins to lose hope of getting out of the woods alive. Charles however, tranquil as ever asks, “Do you know, you can make fire from ice?” At this point, Bob is furious to see this old rich man enjoying this hostile situation with calm and composure unlike other men in his shoes. When Bob asks how, he says, “You take some ice in your hands mold it into a lens, hold is across the sun and you have fire”.

With passing days, Charles calls the shots and comes up with ideas for gathering food, from building traps for squirrels to making fishing hooks. But they are not yet through with the man-eater who is constantly on their trail smelling them through their bloody wounds. Tired of this constant fear haunting their days and nights Charles finally says he’s had enough and decides that the only way to get rid of the bear is to kill it. He recalls reading the technique by which young African tribal boys would kill the wild beast. He convinces the very reluctant Bob with this idea asking him to say after him the line “What one man can do, another can do”. And after a long game of hide-and-seek when the man-eater eventually comes face-to-face with them, it is again Charles who makes the man-eater rest in peace.

As they travel along they see an abandoned wood house with some utensils, a first-aid box, a boat, a gun and bullets. The two men are happy thinking now that they have the boat, the river would take them home. But Charles suddenly feels the pang of his life, with the thought that the only girl he loved doesn’t actually love him but loves Bob, as he holds the proof of the same in the form of a written paper in his hands. When Bob comes to know about this the devil in him takes over and thinks why not kill Charles, now that his way home is secured.

He holds the gun pointing at Charles outside the house but just when he is about to shoot his luck fails him and he falls in hunter’s trap-hole that injures him too badly to recover. But despite this Charles lends him a helping hand and brings him back into the house, gives him first aid and tries to console him. The next morning, Bob finds himself lying in the boat and Charles rowing and feels the guilt of his life. As Bob he is too week to continue and feels uneasy, Charles rows the boat towards a nearby bank where he would light a fire for Bob to feel better. At that very moment, they here the chopper again and this time it manages to spot them. Charles is excited but Bob knows he is breathing his last breaths. He calls Charles closer and asks, “Never too late for a kind word ha Charles?” Charles says, “Don’t die on me Bob”. Bob apologizes and dies.

On returning back home when the reporters ask about the other men, Charles says, “They died, saving my life”.

"The Edge" - Trailer

The Edge (1997) - Soundtrack - 01. Lost In The Wild