Review of River's Edge (1986) by Matthew R — 14 Mar 2009
It's a great film and a fantastic portrayal of teenagers, they come across as awkard at the right moments, distant and unfeeling. Yet at the same time confused and emotional. There's a great little moment when Reeves opens up to the girl he likes as to how he felt after seeing the dead body, something he wouldn't do with the police officer who was shouting at him.
It invites comparison with adults in the film, one of their teachers belives his generation was important because "we stopped a war, man". Another (played by Dennis Hopper) killed his girlfriend and claims it was ok beause he loved her and so looks down on John because John didn't love the woman he killed. The adults in the film believe their own teenage years were in some way more important or more relevent and seem perterbed by the kids lack empathy or direction. They're just deluded in a different way than the kids.
On IMDB someone was saying how uncomfortable the film made them and he put it down to being that the film shows "A negative portrayal of good people". Which I think is kind of fitting. Apart from John none of these teens are really bad kids, they smoke pot and sem to have little connection with their familes or other adults(the only family we really see are Reeves, who's is troubled), they come across as typical teenagers with little to motivate them. Their friend commits a horrible act and...they don't know how to react, how to explain it, how they're supposed to feel. None of them run to tell the police the minute they find out, none seem entirely sure why.
There's a great moment when one of the girls goes to a pay phone to call the police but chickens out because she doesn't know what to say or who they should call. It's such a very teen momment, putting off something that would make them uncomfortable.
There are problems with some of the characters acting - Dennis Hopper and Crispin Glover swing wildly from a little eccentric, to full on crazy, which leaves the tone of the film a little schizophrenic, causing some problems when we're meant to be emotionally involved in some of the films scenes as there's a sense of distance due to the OTT zaniness. Also the kid playing Reeve's younger brother is the kid from Near Dark, and he's the most obnoxious annoying lispy child in existance. I wanted to kill him every time he was on screen.
Other than that it was a suprisingly great film.
This review of River's Edge (1986) was written by Matthew R on 14 Mar 2009.
River's Edge has generally received positive reviews.
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