Review of River's Edge (1986) by Uncle Walty — 13 May 2008
Stumbled onto this one through IFC and was surprised I had never heard of it before. This is one disturbing film. It's about a high school kid who kills his girlfriend and shows the body to his stoner friends, who don't seem to care one way or the other about it.
What makes it creepy is that this is slightly based on a true story. Aside from that, there are some good performances here. Reeves is cast perfectly and is in complete Ted mode, which is what is needed for this movie.
Hopper gives his usual, strange performance. But it is Glover who is the most entertaining. He turns typical dialogue into something more than it deserves to be. He's funny, interesting, annoying, baffling.
..it's a performance that should be famous. The movie itself should be much more popular because of what it says about youth in the country, even though now it is twenty years old, there is still a comparison to be made.
This had to have been an influence on Bully, (according to the plot synopses I read) Mean Creek, and gummo.
This review of River's Edge (1986) was written by Uncle Walty on 13 May 2008.
River's Edge has generally received positive reviews.
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