I don't entirely know what to make of this film. On the one hand, I can see that it's an examination of teen apathy, social ambivalence and post-familial-dysfunction angst etc etc but it's also really rather silly in terms of improbable plot and ridiculous unlikely overblown characters, but apparently it's based on a true story so perhaps not. One young man (John - Daniel Roebuck) kills his girlfriend without emotion or regret, he is psychopathic, just intent on causing mayhem for no apparent reason an plays detached, dangerous and scary brilliantly. He is seen by a twelve year old boy, Tim, and both of them brag about the killing, and knowing where the body is. There are shades of Stand by Me, a coming of age journey in the film - the characters learn about themselves through the experience of seeing the body and also the viewer is narrated to via speeches by both the school teacher and Matt, to explain the troubles witnessed in the film. The acting is in part dreadful and brilliant, and with Crispin Glover's performance as Layne I'm not sure whether he was bad or brilliant; he plays one of the friends who is desperate to be part of the group - the leader - and tries to hold them all together, afraid of being on his own, but overplayed in a character so apart from his friends, addled, druggie, like he's method acting a caricature of a stoner drop-out teen, and just flailing around in exaggerated gestures. Joshua Miller, as the twelve year old Tim, younger brother of Reeves' Matt, is cartoonish, androgynous and even camp, and he is performing acting by numbers. The film reminds me in places of Lost Boys but at least that had the guts to say "Hey! This IS a comedy!" but River's Edge is stuck with trying really hard to be a drama and I'm not sure it works without the comedy that some of the hammy acting, and silly one-liners, Dennis Hopper's character Feck with his inflatable girlfriend and general silliness adds but detracts from the horror of the story. Dennis Hopper was amazing, hardly surprising, in his delivery and was one of the actors that stood out and above the rest as "real" rather than "acting." Keanu's Matt is the quiet, relatable, real character and he plays son of dysfunctional family, school drop-out, even father and dominant male figure in places to his sister and mother, and demonstrates the complex and above-age roles that some young people have to play behind the scenes - they are labelled as "difficult" but there's more to them. Perhaps the same with Crispin's Layne; he looks like a waste of space and an unphlegmatic idiot; but he stands up to the situation and standing by John (Roebuck). Hopper's schizophrenic-type delusion are brilliant. For me, however, Reeves stands out, his gentle delivery and subtleness perfect for the troubled and nervous Matt, against Ione Skye's Clarissa he is shy and easily led, she seems to deal with the death of her friend by throwing herself at Matt - well, who can blame her really? - 22yo Reeves was stunning and appeared like a different creature compared to everyone else's look. He, Hopper and Roebuck stood out as the actors that blended into the screenplay, their character's environment and the plot whereas the other's stuck out as trying to do that.
It's a good film. You can take it as a dark comedy or you can read more into it. I'm not sure whether you should read into this, or whether it is just what it is but as 80s films go it's a bit deeper and less fluffy than most of them, and surprised me with how watchable it is and how it is still relatable and up to date.
It's a good film. You can take it as a dark comedy or you can read more into it. I'm not sure whether you should read into this, or whether it is just what it is but as 80s films go it's a bit deeper and less fluffy than most of them, and surprised me with how watchable it is and how it is still relatable and up to date.