The Razor's Edge is a 1984 American historical drama film directed and co-written by John Byrum starring Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks, Denholm Elliott, Brian Doyle-Murray, and James Keach. The film follows Larry Darrell, a traumatized World War I veteran who goes on a quest for meaning that leads him through Paris and to the Indian Himalayas. It is an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel of the same name, the second after Edmund Goulding's 1946 film. The book's epigraph is dramatized as advice from the Katha Upanishad: "The path to salvation is narrow and as difficult to walk as a razor's edge."

Plot

In 1917 Illinois, before the United States joins World War I, a fair is planned to raise money to support Gray Maturin and Larry Darrell, who are joining the war in Europe as ambulance drivers. At the front, commanding officer Piedmont has both of them armed. Larry witnesses the deaths of soldiers and fellow ambulance drivers. By the time the United States enters the war, Larry's unit is down to a few men. During an unexpected encounter with German soldiers, Piedmont dies saving Larry's life. After the war ends the two friends return to the United States. Larry rejects plans to work for Gray's father as a stockbroker, delays his engagement to his sweetheart Isabel, and travels to Paris to find meaning in his life.