River's Edge

Rating:
Summary: Greatest movie since ET
Review: this movie is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.......

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Films of the 80's
Review: This movie will stay with you for a long, long time. It's a pretty simple concept: a teenager kills his girlfriend and his friends don't do anything about it. But it seems all too real, which is why it's so effective. This could easily happen to someone you know.As for the actors in this movie, not only does the almighty Crispin Glover give what may be his best film performance, but the rest of the cast is dynamite as well. And for all of the flak that Keanu Reeves gets for his acting I was actually impressed by him in this one. He gives a real believable performance and you find yourself on his side.I honestly hadn't heard of this movie until a couple of years ago. And that's a shame that some of the best movies in American cinema are simply being ignored.

Rating:
Summary: Cure for the Hollywood-cheese blues
Review: This outstanding dark comedy (although not everyone finds it funny...but they should) deals with real-life events that, presented in any other manner, one might consider both depressing and disturbing. However, the director and amazing cast performances (yes, even Keanu Reeves is good) Manage to elicit lots of laughs. It is this quality that makes The River's Edge a stand-out cult classic film. See this film with an open mind and you will raise the bar on your cinematic standards!

Rating:
Summary: Look: I KNOW she's just a doll
Review: This sicko-weird, pervo-twisted flick is absolutely GREAT, fully worth the price of admission just to see Dennis Hopper's Feck (definitely made me hungry for a glazed doughnut) and Crispin Glover's hyper-kinetic Laine -- not to mention the two little brother-guys, one of whom is a faux-martial-arts expert. Drawn-from-life plot, stupendous scenes, terrific lines, and lots of the plain old BIZARRE stuff. Enjoy!!

Rating:
Summary: two poorly acted roles - the rest sold the movie!
Review: This was a great movie, but it's not quite the social indictment that it purports to be. Mostly it works on the power of its stars and some godawfully chilling mood music.

Samson (AKA "John") is a not-so-gentle giant of a teen who impulsively strangles his girlfriend. Though the murder and murderer are quickly common knowledge to local high-school denizens, nobody immediately runs to the police. This doesn't keep just about everybody her age from gawking at her now stripped corpse when it's found along the river's edge. Various reasons keep Samson's peers from even alerting the police to the body - mostly they have to do with loyalty. In a bizarre twist, their loyalty stems not from Samson, but from his friend Layne, a local Death-Metal kid who is determined not to "narc" out one of his own. While the rest remain silent, Layne makes Samson's safety and escape his personal crusade. Matt (Keanu Reeves) stirs from the pack, and calls the police. At first a suspect (he can't explain to the police the delay) Matt's released, whereupon he pretends to help Layne keep Samson safe. Most of the film is confined to the late hours of a single night, when our characters split up and tragically collide. When police flood the streets looking for Samson, it's clear that somebody "Narced". Though Layne never suspects Matt, Matt's younger brother immediately fixates on his elder sibling's betrayal, and plots revenge. At first, Layne stashes Samson with Feck (Dennis Hopper), an elder pot-head who's on the run for murder, but Samson is too impulsive to stay in one place for very long. When Feck runs out of beer, the pair leave the safety of Feck's house for beer, bullets and a trip back to the river's edge.

"River's Edge" is a stirring flick, but it's not quite the statement of society's collapse that it purports to be. (A nebbish, conservative student is put-down for just that sort of self-righteousness late in the story.) Just too much of the story doesn't add up. Matt's mom is simply weak - she's got a bossy live-in boyfriend, and looks to be have barely recovered from the sort of teenage existence now suffered by her kids. (instead of being emboldened, she's actually the weakest character in the flick - "I'm not your mother", she rants near the end "You're all mistakes!") Matt's brother plots revenge for Matt's treason - but he never connects with other characters in a way that suggests his loyalty. The other's are supposedly in sway to Layne, but Crispin Glover's mannerisms are less death-metal than post-modern mime (he simulcasts most of his lines with his hands) and he can barely hold himself together, let alone his peers. While separated from Layne, Matt uses his new-found inner strength to get closer to Clarissa (Ione Skye), but the story isn't sure which is really causing the other (maybe Clarissa is actually inspiring him to think past Layne). Especially weird is the way that while Layne searches for Samson, Matt runs into him at a liquor store after hours. There, using Feck's gun, and in front of Matt, Samson forces the storeowner to sell Matt beer. Matt never tells Layne of the meeting. The biggest hole is Feck. The flick tosses him and Samson together in a night that climaxes with something out of "Of Mice and Men" - but the script only partly succeeds in creating that intimacy between Feck and Samson. When Feck later says of Samson "he didn't love her", it's unclear whether he's referring to Samson's murdered girlfriend or to Elly, Feck's blow-up doll and captive passenger on that last night.

That said, this is still an incredible flick. Crispin Glover is still unforgettable as Layne (after watching enough of "Edge" you may find it hard not to talk like him). The plot, for its holes, stays focused on that one last night. If the ending is way-too-pat, it's probably because the flick's ambition is more than it can achieve. In any case, I sat down for this click and couldn't pull myself away. Supposedly based on a true story, "River's Edge" should be appreciated on its own, without us having to wonder where the true story became a way-out cautionary tale of impulsive murder and misplaced loyalty.

Rating:
Summary: doesn't quite add-up, but still unforgettable
Review: This was a great movie, but it's not quite the social indictment that it purports to be. Mostly it works on the power of its stars and some godawfully chilling mood music.

Samson (AKA "John") is a not-so-gentle giant of a teen who impulsively strangles his girlfriend. Though the murder and murderer are quickly common knowledge to local high-school denizens, nobody immediately runs to the police. This doesn't keep just about everybody her age from gawking at her now stripped corpse when it's found along the river's edge. Various reasons keep Samson's peers from even alerting the police to the body - mostly they have to do with loyalty. In a bizarre twist, their loyalty stems not from Samson, but from his friend Layne, a local Death-Metal kid who is determined not to "narc" out one of his own. While the rest remain silent, Layne makes Samson's safety and escape his personal crusade. Matt (Keanu Reeves) stirs from the pack, and calls the police. At first a suspect (he can't explain to the police the delay) Matt's released, whereupon he pretends to help Layne keep Samson safe. Most of the film is confined to the late hours of a single night, when our characters split up and tragically collide. When police flood the streets looking for Samson, it's clear that somebody "Narced". Though Layne never suspects Matt, Matt's younger brother immediately fixates on his elder sibling's betrayal, and plots revenge. At first, Layne stashes Samson with Feck (Dennis Hopper), an elder pot-head who's on the run for murder, but Samson is too impulsive to stay in one place for very long. When Feck runs out of beer, the pair leave the safety of Feck's house for beer, bullets and a trip back to the river's edge.

"River's Edge" is a stirring flick, but it's not quite the statement of society's collapse that it purports to be. (A nebbish, conservative student is put-down for just that sort of self-righteousness late in the story.) Just too much of the story doesn't add up. Matt's mom is simply weak - she's got a bossy live-in boyfriend, and looks to be have barely recovered from the sort of teenage existence now suffered by her kids. (instead of being emboldened, she's actually the weakest character in the flick - "I'm not your mother", she rants near the end "You're all mistakes!") Matt's brother plots revenge for Matt's treason - but he never connects with other characters in a way that suggests his loyalty. The other's are supposedly in sway to Layne, but Crispin Glover's mannerisms are less death-metal than post-modern mime (he simulcasts most of his lines with his hands) and he can barely hold himself together, let alone his peers. While separated from Layne, Matt uses his new-found inner strength to get closer to Clarissa (Ione Skye), but the story isn't sure which is really causing the other (maybe Clarissa is actually inspiring him to think past Layne). Especially weird is the way that while Layne searches for Samson, Matt runs into him at a liquor store after hours. There, using Feck's gun, and in front of Matt, Samson forces the storeowner to sell Matt beer. Matt never tells Layne of the meeting. The biggest hole is Feck. The flick tosses him and Samson together in a night that climaxes with something out of "Of Mice and Men" - but the script only partly succeeds in creating that intimacy between Feck and Samson. When Feck later says of Samson "he didn't love her", it's unclear whether he's referring to Samson's murdered girlfriend or to Elly, Feck's blow-up doll and captive passenger on that last night.

That said, this is still an incredible flick. Crispin Glover is still unforgettable as Layne (after watching enough of "Edge" you may find it hard not to talk like him). The plot, for its holes, stays focused on that one last night. If the ending is way-too-pat, it's probably because the flick's ambition is more than it can achieve. In any case, I sat down for this click and couldn't pull myself away. Supposedly based on a true story, "River's Edge" should be appreciated on its own, without us having to wonder where the true story became a way-out cautionary tale of impulsive murder and misplaced loyalty.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF KEANU REEVES' BEST PERFORMANCES
Review: What a good movie this is..!

Teenage murder ~ what would you do if a friend of your killed his girlfriend and bragged about it at school...

That's the dilemma facing a group of hardy, streetwise teens in thsi dark film. Do you go to the cops or do you cover for your friend.

Keanu Reeves plays MATT, a boy with a conscience. He gives a noticibly stunning performance as the angst ridden teen, fighting his friends and his family, trying to stay sane at the same time. It has been often said that this performance paved the way for his rise to stardom in Hollywood.

The other characters are dispondent and have almost given up on 'life' itself. How can you burn out so young? Where has innocence gone?

Dennis Hopper does a great turn as Feck, the weed smoking, ex-murderer turned judge and jury in this truly memorably film.

Great to see that it has been re-released in the States. It has never gone out of print here in the UK...

Kudos...

Rating:
Summary: An Fascinating Drama.
Review: When a Disturb Teen (Daniel Roebuck) murder his girlfriend, a young trouble making boy (Joshua Miller) saw what happen by far.
When he tells his Older Brother (Keanu Reeves) & anothers about it, they don`t believe him. Once they see the Dead Body of the Person, they knew. They don`t know, how to react & with almost no sense of feeling. When a Wild out of Control teen (Crispin Glover) tries to Control the Situation & Protect his Emotionless friend. Two Teens with Some Humanity left (Reeves & Ione Skye) decide to do Something about It.

Directed by Tim Hunter (The Saint of Fort Washington, Tex) made a Strong, Terrific Drama that was Based on a Real-Life 1980 Murder Case. Glover & Dennis Hopper as a Leftover Biker & Druggie are the Standouts in this film. Reeves is also Good, in One of the First`s Starring Roles. This is a Absorbing (not completely perfect) Study of Contemporary & Alienation on Society to the Lives of Teenagers by Bringing Responsibility... This is a Disturbing & Thought-Provoking. One of the Strongest Dramas of the 80`s. Written by Neal Jimenez (For the Boys, Hideaway, Sleep with Me). Grade:A.

Rating:
Summary: It doesn't age well
Review: When I first saw this back in 1988, the movie really seemed riveting and menacing. A lot changes in 11 years! RIVER'S EDGE now just seems very contrived and over-the-top. The one enduring element it's retained is Frederick Elmes' incredible cinematography. It makes me wonder what some of the movies of "teens in trouble" that were made during the Nineties are going to seem like in 11 years. What a shame......