captures the scant, fetid tone of broken down pool halls and cracked glass bars infested with third-rate hustlers and frat boys slumming for a hustle
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05/08/08
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Turn the River (2008)
67
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:18
Fresh:12
Rotten:6
Average Rating:5.9/10
Theatrical Release:May 9, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Though most know Famke Janssen for action-oriented roles in the X-Men films, she bears the heft of this weighty drama with apparent ease. Janssen stars as Kailey, a woman who had to give up her son... [More]
Starring: Famke Janssen, Rip Torn, Jaymie Dornan, Lois Smith
Director: Chris Eigeman
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Reviews for Turn the River
1 - 18 (sorted by critic A-Z)
A well-acted, if not terribly well-crafted, character-driven drama without much in the way of a purpose.
05/16/08
Top CriticTurn the River, sometimes like Kailey herself and sometimes not, has a laudable habit of pulling back at the right moments and proving its mettle in unexpected ways.
04/26/08
The movie has a mixture of edginess and melancholy that’s beautifully sustained until the climax, when the tang of realism becomes the cudgel of melodrama.
05/05/08
Top CriticWhat Eigeman needs is a stronger sense of style and storytelling if he wants to elevate the material past the stock indie-miserabilism mark.
05/08/08
It's a bumpy film, and though no one may see it, it's impossible to imagine it playing as gracefully, like its effectively open-ended finale, without Janssen's conviction to her role.
05/04/08
Hopefully, more moviegoers will catch a performance as promising as this Turn in another rack.
10/18/08
A small-scale but thoroughly engrossing drama full of strong performances and sharp dialogue.
05/09/08
Top CriticTurn the River is a finely observed portrait of a desperate working-class woman who refuses to play by ordinary rules.
05/09/08
Top CriticSkip the coda to this movie, with its tiny upswing of hope, and remember the days at the tables, as dim and endless as nights, and the click of the dialogue.
05/05/08
Top CriticWe're left after this terse and anxious film knowing nothing more about the world than that Janssen looks cool bending over and glaring at the eight-ball
05/15/08
A modest, grittily surfaced film that, while nothing earth-shaking, manages to hold your interest, despite its basic been-there/done-that premise.
05/09/08
No glamorized games here, just a bleak look at a bleak story of a woman trying to crawl her way up from a life of limited options.
05/08/08
The sense of storytelling intelligence is undeniable.
05/07/08
Top CriticJanssen, who reportedly did her own pool shooting, is [best] served in the scenes with Gulley, which are wrenching in a coolly understated way.
05/16/08
[This] atmospheric pic positively vibrates with authenticity.
11/14/07
Top CriticTurn the River lacks almost everything Eigeman has as a performer: charisma, wit and snappy delivery.
05/09/08
Top CriticIt's not sharp or ironic, but drab and downbeat. Unfortunately, it's also going to feel utterly familiar to those who've seen their share of independent dramas in the last 15 years.
05/09/08
Top Critic1 - 18 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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