You don't have to be a cricket fan to take something away from this amazing sporting documentary. If you do understand cricket though it will help you understand it more. However it's not just about cricket it's about how to get the best out of yourself, friendship, team work, how you can be at the bottom and feel good and optimistic and being at the top it feels like your going to fall off. In short it's all in the mind and like Trot puts it concentration is the absence of irrelevant thoughts.
14 Reviews
Powerful insight into the mind of an athlete
thesimplecritic27 September 2019
After the most exciting and memorable summer of cricket since 2005, I finally got around to watching "The Edge" a documentary directed by Barney Douglas which follows the England cricket team from 2009 to 2013 and the rise to No.1 in the world. This documentary is brilliant, to put it plainly it's one of the best sporting documentaries I've ever seen.
The film its self is shot beautifully with some creative solutions to help the audience visualize what is happening in the mind of the athlete, the documentary also manages to perfectly describe what is happening without alienating viewers new to the sport, but doesn't make it boring for long time fans. What you see during this film is a testament to the work that goes into being a professional athlete, showing grueling scenes of the work they put in to get to where they are. However, this film is far deeper than just showing how hard they work, its an in-depth look into the psychology of sport and the effects that pressure and failure can have on the human brain, it manages to show this through countless revealing interviews with players and coaches about what they went through. In times like these where we are trying to learn more and more about mental health and open ourselves up to the idea that its ok not to be ok, this film is really inciteful and important in helping us understand what it means to fail and to have pressure placed upon yourself.
I would implore a and sport or cricket or anyone that's wants to gain an understanding of what happens in the mind of a professional athlete to watch this film it's hard-hitting revealing, but ultimately its important that films like these are made and its important that people learn as much as they can about mental health. 9/10
The film its self is shot beautifully with some creative solutions to help the audience visualize what is happening in the mind of the athlete, the documentary also manages to perfectly describe what is happening without alienating viewers new to the sport, but doesn't make it boring for long time fans. What you see during this film is a testament to the work that goes into being a professional athlete, showing grueling scenes of the work they put in to get to where they are. However, this film is far deeper than just showing how hard they work, its an in-depth look into the psychology of sport and the effects that pressure and failure can have on the human brain, it manages to show this through countless revealing interviews with players and coaches about what they went through. In times like these where we are trying to learn more and more about mental health and open ourselves up to the idea that its ok not to be ok, this film is really inciteful and important in helping us understand what it means to fail and to have pressure placed upon yourself.
I would implore a and sport or cricket or anyone that's wants to gain an understanding of what happens in the mind of a professional athlete to watch this film it's hard-hitting revealing, but ultimately its important that films like these are made and its important that people learn as much as they can about mental health. 9/10
An excellent insight
russell-81827 September 2019
After the sacking of Kevin Pietersen as England Captain, the Test Team set the themselves a target of becoming the first Englamd side to reach to be ranked the world number 1 test side. This documentary charts that journey from a very low point to the ultimate high and then explains how it all fell apart. This is a real insight with the majority of the explanations coming from those coaches and players that were at the centre of that period of English cricket. A much watch for any cricket fan.
You do not need to be into cricket to go on this roller-coaster ride
johnbirch-216 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Cricket has probably the highest suicide rate among former players compared ro any other sport. Now I know why.
This is a warts-and-all study of the rise and fall of the England cricket team from 2009-2014, but don't let that put you off as a knowledge of cricket is not more needed than a knowledge of baseball is needed for Moneyball.
Excepted that Moneyball was a happy, positive film. And so is this, for the first half. Then it decends into the dark as the players start to fall apart mentally, even on camera being interviewed.
Quite why this happens - well, watch the film and come to your own conclusions.
This is a warts-and-all study of the rise and fall of the England cricket team from 2009-2014, but don't let that put you off as a knowledge of cricket is not more needed than a knowledge of baseball is needed for Moneyball.
Excepted that Moneyball was a happy, positive film. And so is this, for the first half. Then it decends into the dark as the players start to fall apart mentally, even on camera being interviewed.
Quite why this happens - well, watch the film and come to your own conclusions.
Gripping And Insightful Cricket Documentary For Fans And Non-Fans Alike
david-meldrum28 October 2019
One of the best sports documentaries I've seen. Confession: I'm a big fan of English cricket (especially in the long, Test Match, form). Even so, this seems to be a documentary that draws in both the fan and the more casual director.
Covering the period (2009-2013) when the England test team rose from a very low point to be number one in the world, then spectacularly imploded. Initially - helped by wonderful narration from Toby Jones - it brilliantly portrays the intensity, athleticism and passion of a sport that too often seems to be the slightly soft activity of the upper classes. The match sounds are amplified; there are some striking visual techniques; and some genuinely honest and funny moments from a group of men who clearly loved each other and enjoyed working together.
Covering the period (2009-2013) when the England test team rose from a very low point to be number one in the world, then spectacularly imploded. Initially - helped by wonderful narration from Toby Jones - it brilliantly portrays the intensity, athleticism and passion of a sport that too often seems to be the slightly soft activity of the upper classes. The match sounds are amplified; there are some striking visual techniques; and some genuinely honest and funny moments from a group of men who clearly loved each other and enjoyed working together.
It's entertaining, but not if you're interested in the cricket.
mauler5-888-61673916 September 2019
I'm a fairly new fan of cricket (2-3 years). So I don't remember this story, but It seems like they add all the exciting parts of what happened at this time (2009 - 2013) without actually giving you any scores, I know cricket scores can be bamboozling to non cricket fans but a few scores in context would have helped. It does seem to be more about the stresses of the game.
Heartwarming
avindugunasinghe23 March 2020
I quite enjoyed it.
nevango26 March 2020
Brilliant
gthompson2371216 September 2019
If you love cricket, you'll love this....
lordweffington5 October 2019
Self indulgent
AbiBaines2 August 2020
Rain stopped play! Unexciting cricketing documentary
ok_english_bt13 November 2019
"Gripping and insightful", oh please?!! This has to be one of the dreariest sports documentaries ever made. Imagine anybody coming to 'The Edge' without any idea of cricket. How would they learn anything about the game from this tosh, let alone the significance of events for the England team between 2009 and 2013? And ok, build up the story with talking head shots and personal accounts ... but there are apparently no strong personalities here, apart from emotionally-wrought Kevin Pietersen, and little attempt by the film-makers to get into the minds of the cricketers featured.
'The Edge' is a real mess of a film in fact, all over the place, hard to pin down anything, factual details, chronology, key events and moments etc., and I'm left thinking by the end of it 'I really don't care about these people'. Probably made by people who love cricket but don't feel the need to share it with anybody. If you're gonna do sports documentaries at the very least use some aspects of the game itself. So, in cricket, it's all about the bowling styles, the team management on the field, strategy, decisions on the field, and the great innings of the batsmen, of course. If you can't get across at least some of these in the 1 hour 30 minutes, you'd better just hang up your whites! The mental state of the players is of no significance without the other stuff (and would be revealed in the pictures and interviews anyway). Congrats to Maccabees' Felix White for the soundtrack, but that's about it really for 'The Edge' .... a total washout! Have a look at Asif Kapadia's passionate and intelligent film about Diego Maradona for a 'night & day' comparison of sports documentaries!
'The Edge' is a real mess of a film in fact, all over the place, hard to pin down anything, factual details, chronology, key events and moments etc., and I'm left thinking by the end of it 'I really don't care about these people'. Probably made by people who love cricket but don't feel the need to share it with anybody. If you're gonna do sports documentaries at the very least use some aspects of the game itself. So, in cricket, it's all about the bowling styles, the team management on the field, strategy, decisions on the field, and the great innings of the batsmen, of course. If you can't get across at least some of these in the 1 hour 30 minutes, you'd better just hang up your whites! The mental state of the players is of no significance without the other stuff (and would be revealed in the pictures and interviews anyway). Congrats to Maccabees' Felix White for the soundtrack, but that's about it really for 'The Edge' .... a total washout! Have a look at Asif Kapadia's passionate and intelligent film about Diego Maradona for a 'night & day' comparison of sports documentaries!
Mind games
paul2001sw-118 August 2020
In 2012, England officially became the best cricket team in the world, after many years of underperformance. They had a great, and settled, side, but it didn't last. Several players eneded their international careers relatively early: the pressures of playing top-level sport almost certainly contributed to that. 'The Edge' interviews many of the players to chart this journey. The problem with the film is its low-brow approach, and its indifference to telling us about any of the technicalities, or detailed history, of the sport. We get some personal insights, but if you didn't know the sporting story, all you would see is a very dumbed-down version. And while psychology is undoubtedly important at the highest level of competition, the necessity of a happy coincidence of natural talent is downplayed: the documentary gives the impression that England started winning, and then stopped again, entirely due to the mindset of the players. The intriguing and complex overlap between a relatively slow-paced, almost reflective, sport, and the intensity of the international spotlight, doesn't come across. There's some interest here, but the film's lack of apparent interest in cricket itself weakens it, for cricket fans and the merely curious alike.
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