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WHO'D have thought that a drama about Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his love for two women could be so dull?

Director John Maybury's earlier biopic about painter Francis Bacon, Love Is The Devil, was a much more provocative piece and that approach would have made this menage a trois drama more enticing.

Part of the problem with Sharman McDonald's screenplay is that she can't decide whether the film is about Thomas, the women or all three. As a result, they all get short shrift.

Maybury, with an artist's eye, ensures that The Edge Of Love looks ravishing from the opening shot of a glamorous Knightley (as Dylan's childhood sweetheart Vera Phillips) singing in the London tube during the wartime Blitz. But I longed for more high drama and a less languorous pace.

Knightley gets better with each role and here, with a convincing Welsh accent, teams up with Sienna Miller's less convincing wild child Caitlin Thomas to offer Dylan (Matthew Rhys, alternatively charming and uncouth) a choice of female company.

Vera tries to get over the Welsh poet by marrying a soldier, William Killick (Cillian Murphy, best of the lot), who returns from the war a shattered man. The climax, as Killick picks up his shotgun and marches over to the Thomas's neighbouring house to sort out the matter once and for all, brings some much-needed drama to the film. But for me, it comes too late.

Stars: Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Matthew Rhys, Cillian Murphy
Running time: 110 mins
Rating: Three stars

6:24pm Thursday 26th June 2008

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