River's Edge (1986)

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Directed by Tim Hunter.

Starring Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Roebuck, Ione Skye, Dennis Hopper.

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The nude, strangled body of a teenaged girl lies on the edge of the river. Her murderer is her boyfriend, Daniel Roebuck. All the kids in Roebuck's dismal, dead-end town know who committed the murder. Trouble is, no one bothers to turn Roebuck in; some of the teens don't know how to react to the crime, while others, strung out on drugs and booze, just don't give a damn. A study of contemporary alienation, River's Edge was based on a real-life incident that occurred in Milpitas, California, in 1981. That same year, Neal Jimenez wrote his screenplay for River's Edge, but was not able to finance the project until 1987. Except for Dennis Hopper, cast as a holdover from the sixties who hobbles about on one leg and makes love to a blow-up doll, the cast was largely comprised of unknowns, many of whom (Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye) would definitely be heard from in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Top 5 Films about Brothers
by Proteus in Filmspotting

loved it.

"#1 - Rumble Fish. This astonishingly beautiful film was so far ahead of its time critics tarred, feathered, and ran it out of town. It is, however, an achingly emotional story about the effects of time, distance, growth, and alienation. It's a love-it-or-hate-it film, and many will be put off by it, but those who can appreciate it will almost certainly adore it. It may be Coppola's best. #2 River's Edge - in keeping with the 1980s, this portrayal of sibling rivalry and suburban alienation in a lower-middle-class home reveals more about the time it was made than any other movie of 1987. It is Keanu's best performance, and although much of the film is terribly cheesy and hammy, heavy-handed and predictable, it retains a nostalgic charm and a surprising relevancy today. Both #1 and #2 feature Dennis Hopper very prominently. This is coincidence. Both were made shortly after his dedication to sobriety. this is probably not coincidence.#3 City of Lost Children. One & ... " [More]

River's Edge
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"River's EdgeYes websites like Spout where people can make their own lists are great. I first heard about this movie while looking at someone's internet list of favorite movies that happened to also contain many of my personal quirky favorites.But what really made me push this movie to the top of my viewing list was when I heard that Crispin Glover was coming to town with his super weirdo movie What Is It? I read that River's Edge was one of his most memorable performances, so I wanted to check it out before seeing him live and with his new movie. And I tell you what, it's definitely a memorable performance. Not that it's necessarily subtle or believable in certain ways, but it's certainly memorable. You feel as though Glover is a character himself, so instead of watching an actor play a character you kind of see a character play an actor.It's no incongruous with the acting style of the rest of the movie either. There is something about the dialogue ... " [More]

Young Adam: Fly on a tit
by jlgdrd in Wicked Fun

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Roughly two-thirds of the way into Young Adam we see the antihero, Joe, thrash, degrade and rape his girlfriend, Cathie, with revved up jazz playing in the background. Afterwards, he clearly regrets this sickening outburst: the most emotion his character has shown till that moment; most likely an outpouring of unconscious rage. Sadly, and consider for a moment the implications of this, it is the most engaging scene in the film. Like Carnal Knowledge’s Jonathan Fuerst and Damage’s Stephen Fleming, Joe is driven to compulsive, joyless sex. He skulks about, scowling, dressed like a thief or scavenger, usually clad in varying degrees of black. Early in the film we see him smeared in it from head to toe. The press kit describes Young Adam as a thriller, based, I suppose, on the discovery of a corpse at the outset of the film. It’s inevitable that publicists will find an angle to promote their product, but why settle for such a reductive gloss? It’s like calling T ... " [More]

MAAAAAAAAAAN!
by InIwontsubscribe in InIwontsubscribe Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"A must-see and rewatcher for the characters alone but the plot is tired. " [More]

Crispin Hellion Glover
by Risselada in FRESH

loved it.

"I will be seeing this event on Friday the 17th. http://www.musicboxtheatre.com /crispinglover.html Crispin Glover will be showing something called the Big Slide Show and his film What Is It? After that will be a showing of Herzog's Even Dwarfs Started Small, a movie I've been hoping to see for a while, and I guess is one of Glover's favorites. Has anyone ever seen this thing before? I guess he only ever shows this What Is It? movie if he brings it with him and is able to speak at the event. Has anyone ever seen this before? There are porn stars in animal masks. Most of the cast has down syndrom but it is never addressed. There's some shot with Clover sitting on a thrown. Bugs and critters crawling all over flowers. This is from the trailer I've seen and what I've read. I guess he was trying to throw as many taboos into a film as possible to generate discussion. It may be a really horrible film. It probably will be. But the guy is so fascinating. I'm sure it will be a m ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

Tim Hunter's 1987 The River's Edge arrived a few years after the disaffected teen pictures of the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as Foxes, The Outsiders, and the Hunter-scripted Over the Edge. These films were cautionary tales inspired by the proliferation of drugs, sex, and parental negligence, and their tone was reminiscent of the restless-youth pictures of the 1950s. River's Edge, on the other hand, captured the dead-end world and incidental amorality of its teen characters with a distant, cerebral eye. Quietly artsy, the movie's unsensational commentary is guided along by ironic, scene-stealing performances from Dennis Hopper and Crispin Glover. Seldom has Hopper's crazed rebellion been exploited to better effect. Even his reclusive drug dealer can't fathom the amorality of the kids who surround him. As the leader of the teens, Glover isn't conventionally menacing. He's more of a personification of the "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" commercial, with an oddly sweet side to him. His warped, eerie performance is miles away from anything seen in typical estranged-youth movies. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Tags: whitetrashclassic , keanu-shines , well-acted , location , asleep-at-the-wheel
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