The whole thing has come out as a muddle, and a cold-hearted, alienating muddle at that. If this is the life of literary people, then the literary people can keep it.

[D]irector John Maybury treats the proceedings like Josef von Sternberg wet dream, at once elegant, campy and desiccated.

The Edge of Love is literate and often lovely to look at, but unless you're requesting an off-key bohemian rhapsody, do not go gentle into that good theater.

The film then goes from a chamber drama to something larger; it doesn't always work. The poetry and the performances... though, and they make the thoughtful and stylish The Edge of Love something more than just another British costume drama.