★ 7 / 10
Did the sight of this dead girl move
John Chard
Did the sight of this dead girl move you in any particular way? River's Edge is directed by Director: Tim Hunter and written by Neal Jimenez. It stars Crispin…
Did the sight of this dead girl move you in any particular way?
River's Edge is directed by Director: Tim Hunter and written by Neal Jimenez. It stars Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck, Dennis Hopper, Joshua John Miller, Roxana Zal and Josh Richman, Music is by Jürgen Knieper and cinematography by Frederick Elmes.
When a group of high school friends discover that one of their social group has murdered another - his girlfriend - they all react in various ways...
Based on an actual murder incident in 1981, "River's Edge" is a deeply unsettling film in how it probes the troubling underbelly of American youth. Naturally considered controversal at the time of release, it is however a fascinatingly brave portrait of disaffected youth via home and school life. The various reactions each member of the group serve up is chilling whilst baffling considering the reality of it all.
The screenplay is high quality because it doesn't demonise the "kids" for their bizzare response to a tragedy in there circle, instead we get complex characterisations that are smartly portrayed by the young cast. They in turn are bolstered by another edgy off the wall turn by Hopper (he did Blue Velvet as well this year), where his ex biker drug peddler also has a murder in his past and has given his love to a blow-up doll named Ellie.
Troubling in many ways, a sort of nihlistic youth apocalypse that's amazingly handled with a calm honesty, this still decades later remains an important film. 7.5/10
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★ 7 / 10
Teenage apathy at its extreme. (spoilers)
vertigo_14
Less Than Zero could have been the 80s movie that reveals teenage apathy in its most extreme form had they actually stuck to the damn book. But, where they…
Less Than Zero could have been the 80s movie that reveals teenage apathy in its most extreme form had they actually stuck to the damn book. But, where they hadn't, this movie presents does the job, and leaves you with the creepiest feeling when its all over in ways not done until the late nineties with Larry Clark's movies 'Kids' and 'Bully.'
Societal outcast teens are faced with a rather curious dilemma (they don't treat it much like one) when their estranged friend (Daniel Roebuck) boasts to them that he killed a teenage girl near the river's edge in their suburban town. Keanu Reeves may be the only civilized character among the bunch, the only one willing to exhibit any sort of conscience, anyway, while the others either don't do anything about the girl's death or want to help their friend hide the body.
I don't know who is more sick in this film--Crispin Glover--who becomes nearly obsessed and quite paternal in trying to protect the friend and hide the crime by smuggling him out of the state. Dennis Hopper, an on-edge drug dealer (who clings to a female blowup doll) that befriends the teens (as a dealer, of course) and suddenly becomes involved in the events. Or, Josh Miller, who plays Reeve's little brother, Tim. He appears to be the most apathetic of them all, at least until his emotional breakdown at the end. It is definitely not peppy 80s teen fare, obviously. And certainly makes the point strikingly clear about the serious detachment these kids deal with (despite a bizarre series of events) thanks to many great performances all around (even Reeves proved some acting capability).
Help yourself to a comedy to recover if it rocks you too hard.
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★ 8 / 10
Wonderfully perplexing
knucklebreather
"River's Edge" is a very perplexing movie. The most striking feature of the movie seems to be the universally apathetic characters. In the opening sequence we…
"River's Edge" is a very perplexing movie. The most striking feature of the movie seems to be the universally apathetic characters. In the opening sequence we learn that Samson, a very large, uncontrollable teenager has killed Jamie, a member of his group of stoner friends from school, and left her naked body by the river's edge.
While there are many movies about heartless killers, Samson is fully realized, such as he is, and I was struck by the utter lack of any rime or reason to his actions, any "Hollywood" touches to humanize him or explain what he did. He killed a girl and really doesn't care. There was no planning, before or after, no moralizing, at most he is amused by it.
Samson (also called John because of his last name) tells his friends, who display apathy that might be shocking. The only one who seems to care is Layne (Crispin Glover) who wants to cover it up so his friend doesn't get arrested and executed. But the rest don't really seem too shaken by it, they don't get mad at John, they even justify his actions, and they certainly don't go to the police right away.
River's Edge works because there is no clear message. I'm sure many people can find one in it, but it's definitely not a movie that hits you over the head with some moral. It presents some very strangely behaving people, who are often over the top but depicted with just enough realism that you have to take what is going on seriously. The fun in this movie is that you get to float around in this shockingly apathetic teenage wasteland for an hour and a half, and see what you can make of it.
The main problem I had with the movie was the direction and soundtrack, which coincide to create awkward transitions and moments where "River's Edge" feels like a crappy low-budget flick you'd find being mocked on MST3K. None of the dialogue or plot falls into that category, but it's the transitions between scenes, where they often just kind of end unimpressive and cut to the next one.
The soundtrack also kept drawing me away from the movie. It includes some edgy metal for 1986, which is perfectly fine for the movie, but it doesn't do much with it, and instead most of the music is an orchestral soundtrack. Parts of it are very atmospheric and perfect for the movie's feel, but at other times it is hitting cliché film score notes during tense scenes and really seeming quite cheesy. I contrasted this movie with "Picnic at Hanging Rock", a spiritual cousin of "River's Edge" I would say, where the score was so utterly perfect at always building the mood, and really think River's Edge could have been an incredible movie with a score that consistent.
River's Edge isn't perfect. I had honestly never even heard of it until I saw it mentioned as a superior film with the same basic themes as "Bully" by Larry Clark. I am very glad I rented it, and am a bit surprised I'd never heard of it. It deserves to be better known. It has some flaws and not everyone will like it, but there is a lot of depth here, and of course its cast includes several famous people in early or debut roles.
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Any thrash metal fans that were teenagers in the mid to late 80's need to see this. It's a walk down memory lane (except for the dead body of course). I hit my teen stride in 1987. We dressed, talked and acted just like these kids. There was even a creek that we got stoned at and listened to Slayer on a portable stereo. Rivers Edge is a flawless snapshot of my teen years. EXCEPT FOR THE DEAD BODY.