River's Edge
"The best and boldest American movie so far this year." -Rolling Stone
Based on the horrifying real-life murder of a young California girl, this "powerful portrait" (Newsweek) of deadly, disaffected teens stars Keanu Reeves (The Matrix), Crispin Glover (Charlie's Angels: The Movie), Ione Skye Leitch (One Night Stand), Daniel Roebuck (Final Destination) and Dennis Hopper (Ed TV) in a tale that is "chilling to witness" (The New York Times).
On the bank of a river lies the naked body of a brutally murdered young girl. At the nearby high school, Samson (Roebuck), brags to Matt (Reeves) and his friends about how he killed her. Drunk and stoned, the doubting teens trudge to the river and discover that he isn't lying. And oddly, they decide to protect Samson behind a loyal wall of secrecy. Tormented with guilt, Matt questions their silence...and suddenly finds himself in a troubling position: should he do what he thinks is right, or should he keep quiet and live with this demon for the rest of his life?
Member Reviews
Some good acting can't save a worthless script. - estefan
Despite some solid performances from the cast, particularly from Crispin Glover, River's Edge is an emotion-less film with almost one-dimensional characters. The film starts out well enough as it starts introducing the wide ensemble of characters and the cast definitely shines. Crispin Glover is a far cry from George McFly here, bringing the right amount of craziness to his character without going over-the-top. The same can also be said for Dennis Hopper. Keanu Reeves has the whole surfer-dude mentality down to a science, so naturally he delivers. Yet, I couldn't connect with any of the characters at all, not merely because they're despicable, but because the writer just couldn't expand on them even more, so they all become the usual "teenager trying to find himself" cliche. There's no personality injected into them at all, something John Hughes was doing magnificently around the same time. The characters also go into these long monologues that rather than add insight, just slow the film down. Aside from that, the film is well-paced and the actors are good and the director does manage to successfully get the mood down, but the script just doesn't go anywhere.Pretty great - rnhaas
This is one of the better "kids these days" movies. Since this is told from the kids' perspective, I guess it doesn't really fit that mold. The whole thing is pulled off really well. The kids are all believable (even Keanu) and their detachment makes sense. Something about the plotting keeps it from being truly great, as one seen isn't adequately explained and the climax could have been a little better. But on the whole, this is a very good movie.
Member Reviews
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Some good acting can't save a worthless script. - estefan
Despite some solid performances from the cast, particularly from Crispin Glover, River's Edge is an emotion-less film with almost one-dimensional characters. The film starts out well enough as it starts introducing the wide ensemble of characters and the cast ...Pretty great - rnhaas
This is one of the better "kids these days" movies. Since this is told from the kids' perspective, I guess it doesn't really fit that mold. The whole thing is pulled off really well. The kids are all believable (even Keanu) and their detachment makes sense. ...