The Edge Of Love

She does gets a chance to sing, though, and does it rather attractively, entertaining Londoners escaping Hitler’s blitz on Underground platforms.

Former childhood sweethearts Vera and Dylan meet in wartime London and are sexually attracted again. She is now a singer; he writes propaganda for the war effort and is married to Caitlin, who turns a blind eye to his sexual escapades. Dylan is unamused when Vera marries British soldier William (Cillian Murphy), but she joins him and Caitlin to live in Wales after William is sent into action and inevitable sexual tensions arise between the three.

In any other circumstances, Knightley should have been able to use her star status to demand a rewrite or two.  Unfortunately for her, screenwriter Sharman MacDonald is also her mother and, as we all know, mother knows best. The screenplay’s prime focus is not its ostensible subject, Thomas, who largely registers as a cipher, but the relationship between the women in his life. But all too frequently it fails to rise above cliché and predictable angst. 

Who would have predicted Miller, despite an odd, fluctuating accent, would out-act Knightley? That’s what happens, though. Knightley works hard but never convinces, Rhys barely made an impression, leaving the acting honours to Murphy.

The film is set in the 1940s and, to be honest, too often feels as though it was filmed then — which is not necessarily meant as a compliment.

Overall, it rarely rises above the level of a well-enough-made but mostly facile television film. Unsurprising, that, since the BBC are co-producers.