Review of Suspicious River (2001) by Andy C — 16 Jan 2013

At a roadside motel, Leila Murray(Molly Parker), a hotel receptionist, provides sexual services for guests, stashing the money in her shoe before she begins. While all of this is going on, her husband Rick(Joel Bissonnette) remains home unemployed and quite blissfully unaware. And all goes well until Gary Jensen(Callum Keith Rennie) punches her before forcing her to the floor. Afterwords, he apologizes for his rough actions. For the record, Leila's only friend seems to be the little girl(Mary Kate Welsh) down the lane who she talks with when sitting on a dock at the river while enjoying a cigarette.

With Molly Parker's luminating and captivating presence raising it above the purely mundane, "Suspicious River" otherwise is not that different from many other cautionary tales, with its good(pregnant) girl/bad girl dichotomy amongst the motel receptionists.(In fact, "Stargate SG1" fans might find this movie the most disturbing.) As much as the movie aims for a psychosexual reading, I think it comes down to money more than anything else for Leila who is trapped by inaction. Otherwise, there is an 11th hour plot twist that while sort of making sense and tying everything together, is also something of a cheat.