River's Edge (1986)

Keanu was 22 and second billed! But for low a budget film great cinematography, direction and GREAT cast! Anything with Dennis Hopper rocks on of course, RIP Dennis! And when Dennis did this movie (1986) he was 50yo. Remember he played next to Jimmy Dean, Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson thirty years earlier (1955) when he was Keanu and Crispin's age in academy award winner "Giant"!

Remember of "Stand by Me" and the whole thing of the four kids journey trying to find a dead body and on the way evaluating their lives up to that point? Now, picture this scenario: what if one of the kids was involved in a murder and keep bragging to everybody about his act showing a corpse as a way to prove that he killed someone? "River's Edge" pretty much covers such topic except that instead of kids we have a bunch of teenagers (and some kids too) getting involved in a complicated situation. One of them killed a girl and for whatever reasons he decided to share this with his friends who don't know how to respond to such problem. A part of the group who saw the body wants to protect their killer friend (Daniel Roebuck) like his buddy Layne (Crispin Glover), while others more doubtful of the whole thing like Matt (Keanu Reeves) and Clarissa (Ione Skye) want to do the right thing and let this being handled by the cops. It's only the beginning of a snowball effect that will become an avalanche sooner or later when other people get stuck with them in this case such a dangerous lunatic (Dennis Hooper), Matt's younger brother and plenty of others. Dramatic and thrilling enough to make you care about it "River's Edge" is a good film while dealing about the teen angst and how they try to cope with adulthood and its problems (here, throughout this crime they'll learn the value of friendship and also some moralistic lessons). The greatest thing covered here was the lack of communication between the teens in certain moments, when they couldn't express what they were feeling about everything happening to them, that was incredibly real, this anxiety of wanting to say and show something but not being able to do it. Other good point that must be raised is their immaturity, also very credible. They're dumb characters but not dumb enough to let you hating them like some flicks tend to do; you'll understand their idiotic moves and actions as being completely natural to them who are more interested in getting stoned and causing trouble then realizing the consequences for their acts. Sadly, this could be an great movie if wasn't for the creative flights of imagination from its writer and director who put unnecessary and unrealistic things in a story that sounds so real, so credible. Examples: the kids reaction when they see the body for the first time. I mean, do people wouldn't freak out a bit in seeing a friend that was killed by another friend?; the teacher's lousy reaction asking his students how they felt about the girl's murder, that was over-the-top and fake; the whole segment involving Keanu's little brother wanting to get revenge on him because he was beaten by him was very unbelievable, however it's interestingly presented, it's a good thing.What could make this movie better than it is would be erase Matt and Clarissa's date night when the whole disaster wasn't solved, that was distractive (and Keanu's face while getting laid. What was that?). Instead of these expendable tender moments the film should be longer and present more about the character's past, develop them in order so we could know how they were as friends, this sense of company, if they were so close to each other or if their friendship was always moved by some interest. The acting in this film is quite difficult to be analyzed, the result will vary depending of the viewer. I enjoyed the at times over-the-top performance of Crispin Glover, other people say he ruined the film. He's very good in playing this twisted junkie who wants to help his friend, trying to be the lead of the gang. Keanu is quite bad in this, emotionless. Having his role being played by Johnny Depp, even at that time when he wasn't all that famous, and we would have a different and good performance. The rest of the cast goes in between's, some good, some bad.It's well made and it makes some outstanding and relevant social commentaries on youth, family, and what growing up really means. Check it out some time. 8/10

Spoiler: My ex-girlfriend of ages ago said this had happened at her high school, Pioneer High, in San Jose, CA. Though she didn't get one of the tours of the corpse, she heard about it at the time and when it was made into a movie, of course, she made me watch the movie. I'd have to say, it's a creepy film - actually not the film's fault - the idea of giving tours of a crime scene is creepy and that's ironically what really happened. Still, there's something about that era that I find captivating and that all these kids who saw the corpse pretty much kept it to themselves, maybe saying "that's cool" and moving on. So odd that so many should have seen it and said nothing about it to the authorities. Like some kind of freak show attraction that nobody questions or feels guilty about viewing, like there's nothing morally wrong about it at all. I find it fascinating and yet sad that society at some point can break like this. Like as if you were in the midst of a drunken riot stampede and came upon a corpse or two that had been trampled upon but ran right over it anyway without a second thought because so many others before you already had. As if to say, all those people can't be wrong... and yet they are/were. Really great movie. Sad that it actually happened but maybe we can learn by the mistakes of others and not let morals slide aside just because a certain number before us already did.

"River's Edge" is a very perplexing movie. The most striking feature of the movie seems to be the universally apathetic characters. In the opening sequence we learn that Samson, a very large, uncontrollable teenager has killed Jamie, a member of his group of stoner friends from school, and left her naked body by the river's edge.While there are many movies about heartless killers, Samson is fully realized, such as he is, and I was struck by the utter lack of any rime or reason to his actions, any "Hollywood" touches to humanize him or explain what he did. He killed a girl and really doesn't care. There was no planning, before or after, no moralizing, at most he is amused by it.Samson (also called John because of his last name) tells his friends, who display apathy that might be shocking. The only one who seems to care is Layne (Crispin Glover) who wants to cover it up so his friend doesn't get arrested and executed. But the rest don't really seem too shaken by it, they don't get mad at John, they even justify his actions, and they certainly don't go to the police right away.River's Edge works because there is no clear message. I'm sure many people can find one in it, but it's definitely not a movie that hits you over the head with some moral. It presents some very strangely behaving people, who are often over the top but depicted with just enough realism that you have to take what is going on seriously. The fun in this movie is that you get to float around in this shockingly apathetic teenage wasteland for an hour and a half, and see what you can make of it.The main problem I had with the movie was the direction and soundtrack, which coincide to create awkward transitions and moments where "River's Edge" feels like a crappy low-budget flick you'd find being mocked on MST3K. None of the dialogue or plot falls into that category, but it's the transitions between scenes, where they often just kind of end unimpressive and cut to the next one.The soundtrack also kept drawing me away from the movie. It includes some edgy metal for 1986, which is perfectly fine for the movie, but it doesn't do much with it, and instead most of the music is an orchestral soundtrack. Parts of it are very atmospheric and perfect for the movie's feel, but at other times it is hitting cliché film score notes during tense scenes and really seeming quite cheesy. I contrasted this movie with "Picnic at Hanging Rock", a spiritual cousin of "River's Edge" I would say, where the score was so utterly perfect at always building the mood, and really think River's Edge could have been an incredible movie with a score that consistent.River's Edge isn't perfect. I had honestly never even heard of it until I saw it mentioned as a superior film with the same basic themes as "Bully" by Larry Clark. I am very glad I rented it, and am a bit surprised I'd never heard of it. It deserves to be better known. It has some flaws and not everyone will like it, but there is a lot of depth here, and of course its cast includes several famous people in early or debut roles.