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Movies / On DVD / River's Edge
River's Edge

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River's Edge (1987)

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Reviews Counted:35

Fresh:30

Rotten:5

Average Rating:7.2/10

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Based on a real life incident, this disturbing drama serves as a seminal study of disillusioned and alienated youth. Set in a small rural town, the local clique of slacker teens is pulled apart... Based on a real life incident, this disturbing drama serves as a seminal study of disillusioned and alienated youth. Set in a small rural town, the local clique of slacker teens is pulled apart when Samson (Daniel Roebuck) kills his girlfriend on the banks of the river and then callously shows off the dead body to his friends. The teens are so numb and ambivalent to the reality of their situation that they remain relatively unphased by the murder of one of their own. Crispin Glover is brilliant as the drugged out paranoid, Layne, who sympathizes with the killer, and plots to hide him at the house of an eccentric recluse (Dennis Hopper), who is rumored to have comitted a similar crime in the 1960s. Keanu Reeves and Ione Skye co-star as Matt and Clarissa, two friends who are drawn together in their realization that something is horribly wrong. In this startling portrait of a morally void society, director Tim Hunter creates a remarkable world of dysfunction and dead-end lives that is haunting in its accuracy. [More]

Starring: Crispin Glover, Dennis Hopper, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye

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

Director: Tim Hunter

Director: Tim Hunter

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Mar 23, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for River's Edge

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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There are some good, frightening scenes of volatile lunacy, but the whole thing badly lacks a controlling distance and perspective.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Beautifully photographed by Frederick Elmes, the visuals are often at odds with the barreness at the movie's core.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/10/03
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Probes the breakdown of moral fiber in one community and its tragic results.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
07/10/03
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Serious societal comment interspersed with black comedy

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Shane Burridge
Shane Burridge
rec.arts.movies.reviews

This is the best analytical film about a crime since The Onion Field and In Cold Blood.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's more a success than a failure, if only because the confusions are so protean.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
07/18/07
Pat Graham
Pat Graham
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie's thinking is hackneyed and sloppy.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Hal Hinson
Hal Hinson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

still holds the power to unsettle and disturb

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/27/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

The silliest work of the '80s.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Brad Laidman
Brad Laidman
Film Threat

Based on an actual incident in Northern California, Tim Hunter's controversial indie addresses the growing alienation and moral vacancy among youths growing up in drug-oriented and media-saturated society; Keanu Reeves is perfectly cast.

Full Review Source: Screendaily | comment Comment
12/14/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
Screendaily

Bitter and disturbing.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A creepy, powerful, and underseen picture that features some virtuoso performances.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/25/01
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

An unusually downbeat and depressing youth pic.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/18/07
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

River stabs all-too-wildly in the dark.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Exposes the brutal realities of life for alienated youth, and does it by imposing a strange emotional distance on the audience.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/13/01
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

One of the most haunting films of the 1980s, River's Edge looks at a suburban, postpunk generation which has no causes, no morals, no feelings, and, worst of all, no future.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/18/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

One of the most chilling portraits of misguided youth put to film.

comment Comment
07/27/03
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
Nitrate Online

A Film you'll never forget....Crispin Glover and Ione Skye are unforgettable

comment Comment
06/11/05
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Disturbing, overlooked, excellent film.

comment Comment
09/10/04
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

Unflinching, tough, rough and fascinating.

comment Comment
10/29/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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