River's Edge 1986 Directed by Tim Hunter
A group of high school friends discover that they are in the presence of a killer. One of them, Samson, has murdered his girlfriend Jamie. He brags to his friends about killing her, and when they discover he is telling the truth, their reactions vary.
Crispin Glover Keanu Reeves Ione Skye Daniel Roebuck Dennis Hopper Taylor Negron Joshua John Miller Roxana Zal Josh Richman Phillip Brock Tom Bower Constance Forslund Leo Rossi Jim Metzler Tammy L. Smith Danyi Deats Yuzo Nishihara Christopher Peters Richard Richcreek Maeve Odum Francis De L'Etanche du Bois Michael Hungerford
Messer am Ufer Das, Instinto sádico
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Crispin Glover but his performance in River's Edge was constantly trying my patience. It seemed as though no one on set felt comfortable enough to tell him to tone it down a bit and the entire film suffered because of it. Joshua John Miller stole the show as the sociopathic little brother to Keanu Reeves (who was also quite good, along with Ione Sky).
The story in River's Edge was too bizarre not to be based on a true crime, and while the movie was quite interesting, the handful of over-the-top performances were met with an outlandish and hyperbolic look at stoner culture and its supposed lack of morality.
"You didn't have to call me a stupid bitch."
"You were driving right past us, we had to yell something."
"I got a name you know. You're lucky I didn't just drive right home."
"Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry, Clarissa, but you've got to understand that in a time like this where every fucking second counts, a man can't waste his time choosing words."
Crispin Glover in this film is pretty much a drinking game waiting to happen. I want his "gahddaaahmnaaht" as a ringtone, I broke into giggles several times during the film. Luckily, I read this excellent article on the California Shift in American pop-punk recently, and I don't know if that's what's happening in Glover's accent, but…
A barebones drama, directed by Tim Hunter, is centered around a group of mostly burnout friends in rural Oregon who come to find that one of them(Daniel Roebuck) has killed another of their group. The knowledge of the crime has a different effect on everyone as they keep the information to themselves. When one of them finally tells the cops, it pushes things even further towards the edge.
Well shot and quite beautiful, it is highlighted with strong performances by Keanu Reeves(I really said that), Dennis Hopper(as an on-the-lam fella who killed his girl), Roebuck and Ione Skye. The score is quite dodgy at times and ultimately your enjoyment of the film will hinge on how you accept Crispin Glover's…
Real-life monsters. Simultaneously grunge murder drama and a cold grey snapshot of 80s teen nihilism run amuck. Slathered in malaise and on the verge of mental deterioration, and all the better (and fittingly worse) for it. God bless whatever Crispin Glover is doing here.
The strongest feature of this is its ability to match tone, lighting, and character. The cold mixture of malaise, disconnection, and, for lack of a better term, psychopathy is matched by the pale cold riverside setting and its attendant chilled lighting in a way that somehow makes the characters' various muted reactions to the corpse of their friend seem fitting. As their humanity reasserts slowly but surely, the film's cold tone adds to the deepening discomfort of their situation, shifting from defining to contrasting, Deepening the discomfort after practically starting with a linger shot of a naked, choked corpse is no mean feat.
That shot is possibly a bit too long, a bit too sexualized, and there's an theme lurking…
I can see why Crispin Glovers performance has been so divisive, but I find the over the top, almost alien like detachment that he exudes to be kind of genius. The way his performance clashes with everyone else’s, mixed with the dated transitions and music made the film feel like a demented after school special. I found this film very oddly intoxicating.
Some Memorable characters, the runtime was a bit long. Overall still pretty edgy worth watching and hot damn the characters are fantastic but not really my cup of tea.
I don't think I've seen this since I was a teen when it seemed very cool but dated. Now it's like... Slap some phones in those kids hands and it's the same one generation fearing another today. Teens gonna teen. Hopefully they don't kill anyone.
I remember when the incident that inspired this happened. Now that place is in the heart of Silicon Valley. This is a pretty good testament to what it could be like to be a teenager in the 70's and early 80's. Disengaged working parents who didn't know where their kids were or what they were up to and kids looking for drugs and kicks to help them break the relentless monotony of their lives. Keanu Reeves does a serious spin on his Ted Theodore Logan character to good effect and most of the kids are solid and believable. Only Crispin Glover takes it over the top (of course) but his performance is really only a slightly exaggerated version of a…
While a student retorts, "The incident points up a fundamental moral breakdown in our society," paranoia does not explain protean morality. A propensity for apathy comes not from impotent parents, socio-economic factors, or juvenille delinquents.
Darren Carver-Balsiger @LIFF 650 films
Pessimistic worldviews. For when you want to wallow in despair.
It doesn't matter if we all die.
Suggestions welcome.
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