The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

Directed by Wendy Apple, The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing documents the art of movie editing by providing a fairly exhaustive overview of its history through clips and interviews – with the picture boasting appearances by such well-known cutters as Sally Menke, Dylan Tichenor, and Thelma Schoonmaker. Filmmaker Apple generally does an effective job of delivering an informative primer on an aspect of the movie business most people rarely think about, and it’s clear, certainly, that the production benefits rather substantially from its all-encompassing approach to its subject matter – as The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing explores the history of editing and follows its evolution through its various iterations and innovations. And although Apple has packed the proceedings with a number of compelling stretches, including a recurring look at Walter Murch’s efforts at editing a single scene in Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain, The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing suffers from a styleless and somewhat dry sensibility that ensures it does begin to wear out its welcome as it passes the one-hour mark – which ultimately does cement its place as a decent-enough documentary that probably, ironically enough, could’ve used a bit of judicious editing.

**1/2 out of ****