Turn the River

Thanks to a review by hikergirl_tx I have become aware of an explanation for an ending I previously considered so completely bizarre I thought I had a faulty copy of the DVD. If you have concerns about the ending check out her review. My assessment pretty much coincides with everyone else's. A little short on plot, a horrible pointless title (unless there was some untapped potential audience among poker players, which there isn't since those people never leave the casino,) very little action, pool scenes that are staged to make a few trick shots look like actual expertise etc. The movie is quite dark, with adequate to excellent performances all around, but again - that ending.

Hardscrabble single moms appear to be all the rage in indie dramas these days. That may account for why, after "Frozen River," "Sleepwalking" and the like, "Turn the River" doesn't feel quite as original and fresh as it otherwise might.

Kailey Sullivan is a down-on-her-luck pool hustler who doesn't even have visitation rights with her 11-year-old son who lives with his abusive dad and stepmother. Kailey's plan is to make just enough money at the tables to enable her to grab the kid and head north of the border.

Written and directed by Chris Eigeman, "Turn the River" has a nice feel for the rhythms and tones of everyday life, with the drama as understated as the performances. The scenes between mother and son are particularly well conceived and executed. There is sensitive, thoughtful, subtle work by Famke Janssen as Kailey; Jaymie Dornana as her son, Gulley; Matt Ross as Gulley's dad; Lois Smith as the boy's paternal grandmother; and Rip Torn as the pool hall owner who sets up matches for the cash-strapped Kailey and serves as go-between for her and her son.

Even the melodrama at the end is nicely underplayed, so much so that we can forgive the air of déjà vu that hangs over much of the work.

The pool was fun to watch, that was the only thing fun to watch in this movie. The quality of the film was very low budget. Terrible cinematography, with a camera that shakes. The movie is slow to get going and takes quite awhile before it explains what is going on. The script and acting is terrible... and the ending is not pleasant. The movie is basically like someone taking a camera, choosing a person and following them around for the next few days. It's a very simple and depressing.

This is the kind of movie with a deep emotional undertone and display of character that you don't see very often these days. Far from being superficial, this movie has more to it than 90 percent of stuff produced. Acting, setup and direction is all supreme. The director gives his characters time to develop, so you really feel you know them. But this is not a movie for those looking for a lot of action or violence, which is only applied when appropriate here.

Turn the River can be described as a revenge drama. However, the theme of the film itself is not that interesting, certainly because it's a big cliché. However, this is the first film that i ever saw which take very seriously snook. I really don't give a dawn about that game, but anyways...it's a relatively 'original' idea. But apart from that, there is really nothing interesting about that film. The story concept, as i already mentioned is a cliché. And i really do not like low budget films which don't have nothing interesting to add. So maybe this is why i didn't like that much the B films. Rarely a Reservoir Dogs kind of B films appears. Back to the film, which explanations about the reasons of the revenge aren't really clever. It's a crucial element in any revenge film. All we'd know is that she wants to retrieve her son and escape with him. Not convincing. So. Yeah. That's not a worthy film, unless if you'd like snook, i suppose. 4.5/10