River's Edge (1986)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Tim Hunter

Writer:

Neal Jimenez (written by)

Release Date:

8 May 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The most controversial film you will see this year.

Plot:

A high school slacker kills his girlfriend and shows off her dead body to their friends. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Police | Murder | High School | Teenager

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Crispin Glover	...	Layne
Keanu Reeves	...	Matt
Ione Skye	...	Clarissa (as Ione Skye Leitch)
Daniel Roebuck	...	Samson 'John' Tollet
Dennis Hopper	...	Feck
Joshua John Miller	...	Tim (as Joshua Miller)
Roxana Zal	...	Maggie
Josh Richman	...	Tony
Phil Brock	...	Mike
Tom Bower	...	Bennett
Constance Forslund	...	Madeleine
Leo Rossi	...	Jim
Jim Metzler	...	Mr. Burkewaite
Tammy Smith	...	Kim
Danyi Deats	...	Jamie

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Finland:K-16 (video rating) (1988) | Australia:R | Canada:R (video rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Arcade Enterprise, La Crescenta, California, USA

Company:

Hemdale Film

Trivia:

Neal Jimenez based the characters on friends he went to school with in Sacramento, California

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening of the movie, the younger brother throws his sister's doll off a bridge. We see a completely different doll hit the water below.

Quotes:

Tim: Get your nunchuks and your dad's car. I know where we can get a gun.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Romper Stomper (1992)

Soundtrack:

Tormentor

Chilling and effective examination of alienation and ambivalence

Tim Hunter made a masterful film in River's Edge, one of the most serious and thoughtful dramatic studies of teenage life I have ever seen. So many elements of the film have a cult following (chief among them the performances of Crispin Glover as Layne and Dennis Hopper as Feck) that I will comment on my own personal favorite moment: the harrowing sex scene between Matt (Keanu Reeves) and Clarissa (Ione Skye). Entwined in sleeping bags with a six pack while police search for their good friend, the two try to find respite while the overwhelming events of the day coil into a vacuum of solitude and silence experienced by children who have sex without knowing each other or themselves. Some will argue that Hunter is heavy-handed with the close association of sex and death, but to see Matt writhe helplessly under Clarissa while elsewhere John (Daniel Roebuck) describes to Feck what it was like to strangle his girlfriend always sends chills up and down my spine.