The first meeting of Dylan and Caitlin was allegedly in a pub in 1936. She had already built up a notorious or legendary past depending on your viewpoint. At 15 the girlfriend of Caspar John until she was seduced by his father, the famous painter and scandalous Augustus John, and became his mistress. She had as they say, been around the block a few times a free spirited bohemian before her time. Eventually Thomas and John came to blows outside a public house and she moved on to Thomas and there began a 13-year drinking and public brawling session as the selfish and self-absorbed couple mooched off anyone they could find to support them and helping themselves to whatever took their fancy. Caitlin was a beauty, no doubt about it, and Sienna Miller does justice to her.SPOILER AHEAD The film concentrates on one fairly brief relationship, that of Dylan and Caitlin's friendship with Vera Killick, an old flame of Dylan's from Wales. They became quite close, living next door to each other in Wales. The fact that Vera was supporting them on her husband's army pay might have been the main reason for the closeness. All good things come to an end, and the soldier husband is shipped home with shell shock, only to find his wife the subject of local gossip and the paternity of her child in doubt. After finding that his wife had emptied his bank account supporting the Thomas's drinking sessions, he goes to the pub to find Dylan holding court with a bunch of effete pseudo intellectuals who are loudly voicing their uninformed opinion on who is really doing the fighting in Greece. A fight ensues after which he takes out his anger by shooting up Dylan's borrowed flimsy cottage, which must be the only building in Wales not to have solid stone walls. The friendship ends when Dylan accuses Cpt. Killick of attempted murder and he stands trial, but the local jury sympathizes with the wounded soldier coming home from the war to find his wife having an affair with a louche freeloader, a possibly illegitimate child, and using his army pay to support the freeloader and his family. He is therefore found not guilty.Perhaps one day we will get a film showing their 13 years together. This one was spoiled for me by Keira Knightley, one of those overrated actresses whose popularity totally baffles me, and her truly awful off key singing. Why could they not have dubbed her voice, or was Vera supposed to be a two bit singer.

I have a few quibbles with this film. I'll say that the scenes are exceptionally shot, Keira's Welsh accent is amazing, and so is her singing. But the film struck me as being pseudo-historical, more stylistic than mentally stimulating. It was also lacking likable characters. The last part is probably the most significant because the plot revolved around these self indulgent protagonists that rarely had anything meaningful to say, or memorable. This made Edge of Love hard to watch, but still entirely enjoyable. The amount of smoking in this movie was almost comical, but I suppose realistic given the time and circumstances. There was no real "plot" to the movie, though. We catch a glimpse of the slightly eccentric relationship between Keira and Sienna Miller, but never fully understand how they have formed a bit of a sisterhood. Character development was a bit sparse and undercooked for me. Overall, a movie that is certainly eye candy but still not 100% satisfying.

The amount of cigarettes smoked in this film reached ludicrous proportions. Despite wartime rationing there seemed to be continually one on the go with every character, apart from the babies. it was so silly after the first hour or so I began to laugh out loud. Was the film funded by Imperial Tobacco or Forest ? If it was the BBC must be held to account.Did concerts really take place in bomb shelters ? Did soldiers really take Sten Guns and grenades and live ammo home on leave ? Did British women really wear trilby hats ? This looked like 21st Century boho chic, not the 1940's. The scene were the paratroopers jumped out of the Dakota with the Stens in their hands was really silly. They would have lost them in the slipstream. Also I'm sure no one actually appeared to be wearing a parachute.Without the crypto lesbian stuff this film would have had no interest at all. Even with it there was next to none. It seemed added to add tabloid prurience to an otherwise deathly dull film. The acting was actually quite good. It just seemed that the script was total pants from start to finish. I actually felt sorry for the cast by the end who all deserved better than this.

Although I am very familiar with poet Dylan Thomas, I know nothing of his life. Whatever his life and specifically his marriage involved, I would imagine that The Edge of Love (based on the novel) manipulates things a bit, but unless you are a historian or a poet, who cares.The movie is less about Thomas and more focused on the two most important women in his life. One is his wife Kathrine, and the other is Vera who was his first love. One romantic night on the beach as youths is something that both have tried to put behind them but cannot, now grown up they are good friends. I forgot to mention that this is set during the war. Vera becomes engaged to Captain Will Killing who he gets her pregnant and leaves for war. While he is away, Vera starts to fall for Thomas again, and Kathrine has fallen out of love with him. She is also carrying another man's child. Things get even more emotionally complex when Capt Killig returnsAs you can see, it is a very soap operatic plot, and it takes shape in a fairy drab slow manner, with perhaps one too many sequences of sappy dialogue. But all is not lost yet. For a non- Hollywood production, I think that the Edge of Love is about as stylish a picture as one can get. It is certainly more dimensional and intelligent than about 90% of contemporary romances, Hollywood production or not. Some of it has to do with being set during the war, which sets up emotional conflict that feels more convincing and less artificial, a bit like Atonement. this one features acting and cinematography of equal talent to Joe Wright's Oscar nominee, but it is in far greater need for stable pacing and progression. Things are okay at the start and finish, but the middle section is where your attention span may be tested, unless you are deeply and profoundly rooted in the story. I doubt if The Edge of Love will have that kind of an effect on the viewer, but is a good film to check. it might even make a good date night movie, considering it is so much smarter than the chick flicks that boyfriends are forced to endure today.