Movies Mayberry Movie Club Week 22: River's Edge (1986)

[Cubo de Sangre]

Each week club members will vote on a film to watch. Then the following week we'll discuss it. Anyone is welcome to join in the discussions. If you want to become a member then let me know.

For week #22 the club selected River's Edge (1986).

Premise: A high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.

Director: Tim Hunter

Starring: Keanu Reeves

Starring: Dennis Hopper

Starring: Crispin Glover

Starring: Ione Skye

Trivia:
(via IMDB)​

• Although it is a work of fiction, the movie was inspired by the murder of Marcy Conrad, who was killed by her boyfriend Anthony Jacques Broussard in Milpitas, California, in 1981.
  
• Neal Jimenez read the story in the newspaper while visiting friends, wrote a script, and turned it in to his instructor, while he was an English major at Santa Clara University. Jimenez said "that the incident is merely the inspiration for the screenplay".
  
• Corey Haim was originally cast as Tim, but he got sick after the first day of production and had to be replaced. Joshua John Miller ended up playing this role.
  
• Screenwriter Neal Jimenez based the characters on friends, with whom he went to school, in Sacramento, California.
  
• Was #8 on Gene Siskel 's list of the "Best Films of 1987."
  
• Crispin Glover auditioned originally for the role of Samson.
  
• Ione Skye's debut.
  
• It was awarded Best Picture at the 1986 Independent Spirit Awards.

Spoiler: Weeks 1-21

1. Rampage (2009)
2. Creep (2014)
3. Victoria (2015)
4. The House of the Devil (2009)
5. The Platform (2019)
6. Cam (2018)
7. Happiness (1998)
8. Audition (1999)
9. Up (2009)
10. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
11. Isle of Dogs (2018)
12. Naked Lunch (1991)
13. Scanners (1981)
14. Cube (1997)
15. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
16. The Trip (2021)
17. Eat Me (2018)
18. Possessor (2020)
19 Bronson (2008)
20. The Raid: Redemption (2011)
21. The Dead Don't Die (2019)

Members: @Cubo de Sangre @Dirt Road Soldier @MusterX @sickc0d3r @Tufts @Zer @NewJerseyNick @websurfer

Honorary tags: @JayPettryMMA

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

On a weekly basis I call my dogs "food eaters". Maybe throw in a "mother fuckers". I also remind them from time to time that "cats have claws".

 

[dc007]

I liked this movie. It's all about Crispin's performance.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I liked this movie. It's all about Crispin's performance.

Easily his best work.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

 

[revoltub]

Man I really liked it going in completely cold. I enjoyed the nonchalant way the teenagers react to everything. I found that aspect similar to other 80s stuff I watched like lost boys, american werewolf in London, and if I remember right teen wolf did a similar thing. Not sure if that's an 80s thing specifically and I know theres a reason for it in the movie just something I noticed.

I think its a good look at how young people approach death and seriousness of life in general. A plot scenario that in any other film would be taken seriously and in this film it just isnt because it puts you in the viewpoint of teenagers perhaps still living in a fantasy world. It even has that 80s foggy fantastical element to its aesthetic and mood that adds to that effect.

I liked keanu and Hopper in it. Glover was idk, alright? The way he inflects certain lines is a little much but I guess that's kind of his thing? I did enjoy his character though. To be short I liked all the characters and their interactions and growth.

If I have to lay any criticism it's that maybe there arent any specific scenes that stand out. Not really a movie you can youtube clip someone into watching. More something you need to start and watch through. Consistently good and sometimes great but never legendary I'd say.

I'd give it a very solid 8.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I liked keanu and Hopper in it. Glover was idk, alright? The way he inflects certain lines is a little much but I guess that's kind of his thing? I did enjoy his character though. To be short I liked all the characters and their interactions and growth.

Glad you dug it. I love Hopper in this. As for Glover, he definitely gives a performance that stands out. I can see people going either way on whether it's too over the top or not. For me he did a good job of being this confident person who people will go along with just because it's easier to do so rather than because of any great leadership qualities. So he thinks he's in charge but really nobody is committed to following his lead. Like when he asks who's with him on burying the body and everybody walks off, including Samson.

If I have to lay any criticism it's that maybe there arent any specific scenes that stand out. Not really a movie you can youtube clip someone into watching. More something you need to start and watch through. Consistently good and sometimes great but never legendary I'd say.

I see what you mean on there not being standout scenes, although I'd say the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. To me this is absolutely a great film, and while not legendary per se, it occupies an important place in cinematic history. Not too many films back then were portraying youth in such a fashion. We moviegoers were fed a steady diet of Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club, Revenge of the Nerds, Hardbodies, Weird Science, etc. Movies about teens just weren't this heavy.

Reminds me, the director wrote Over The Edge, a movie we watched as the SMC a few years ago. So hats off to Tim Hunter just for these two films.

 

[Peteyandjia]

That's my leg!

I wonder if there's any beer in that can...

 

[revoltub]

Glad you dug it. I love Hopper in this. As for Glover, he definitely gives a performance that stands out. I can see people going either way on whether it's too over the top or not. For me he did a good job of being this confident person who people will go along with just because it's easier to do so rather than because of any great leadership qualities. So he thinks he's in charge but really nobody is committed to following his lead. Like when he asks who's with him on burying the body and everybody walks off, including Samson.



I see what you mean on there not being standout scenes, although I'd say the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. To me this is absolutely a great film, and while not legendary per se, it occupies an important place in cinematic history. Not too many films back then were portraying youth in such a fashion. We moviegoers were fed a steady diet of Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club, Revenge of the Nerds, Hardbodies, Weird Science, etc. Movies about teens just weren't this heavy.

Reminds me, the director wrote Over The Edge, a movie we watched as the SMC a few years ago. So hats off to Tim Hunter just for these two films.

Well said. I did like how glovers character

Spoiler

is trying to overcompensate his loyalty to John to mask his true intention of living out some outlaw rebel fantasy.

The way it played out and executed was really well done and I felt it was a character that reflected people I know irl and one that a lot of people can relate to in some way.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

That's my leg!

I wonder if there's any beer in that can...

So much great dialogue in this film. Check's in the mail!

 

[Oliver Clothesoff]

Probably not the place for this... but I know you guys like Movies. If you get a chance to see "American Underdog" go see it. Best movie of that Genre I've ever seen. And it's true! Which is even better.

Sorry for the momentary derailment....

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Well said. I did like how glovers character

Spoiler

is trying to overcompensate his loyalty to John to mask his true intention of living out some outlaw rebel fantasy.

The way it played out and executed was really well done and I felt it was a character that reflected people I know irl and one that a lot of people can relate to in some way.

Yeah, the other characters call Layne out on that too.

I want to tip the cap to Roebuck's acting here. He played the character running from hot to cold at all the right moments. He dispassionately admitted the killing and lead his friends to the site. But when recounting it to Feck he was invigorated. He'd calmly promise to read Dr. Seuss to his aunt, then put a gun in the clerk's face to get some beer. I really enjoyed his interactions with Hopper and how he fucked with Dennis (eg. asking who bought Feck's groceries and simulating oral with Ellie).

 

[Peteyandjia]

So much great dialogue in this film. Check's in the mail!

She was talkin' shit.

 

[Peteyandjia]

Sidenote, I've always felt this is the best David Lynch movie that David Lynch didn't make.

 

[Plissken]

River's Edge has been one of my favorites for a long time. The entire mood/feel of the film is just perfect, has a similar feel to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer even though the films are quite different. Just a gloomy and "real" feeling movie. You won't feel good after watching it, but it's something you should see at least once (probably in early Spring or Autumn). The film's score (the soundtrack is good too) is excellent as well, it's a shame it's no longer available. Part of the reason the film has such a palpable feel to it is that its' cinematographer is Frederick Elms who did David Lynch's early films like his shorts and Eraserhead, then Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, he went on to be Jim Jarmusch and Ang Lee's main cinematographer while also working with Charlie Kaufman and Todd Solondz, so he definitely works well with a certain dour and gloomy mood.

 

[crabmeat]

Food eater!

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

She was talkin' shit.

When every second counts a man doesn't have time to choose his words.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

The entire mood/feel of the film is just perfect, has a similar feel to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer even though the films are quite different.

Funny you mention that because I also get a Henry feel from River's Edge. Both bleak, both compelling every step of the way.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

In this flick Matt is like a precursor to Modine in Full Metal Jacket.



Keanu with the peace symbol spray-painted over a skull.

 

[websurfer]

Fuck, I watched the wrong movie. I typed River's edge into Netflix and the 2018 version came up. A weird mature rated Japanese high school movie where a lot happens. The movie was shot at a rivers edge and at a high school, hence the name. I'll rate this movie a 3. Themes addressed include sexual orientation, bullying, unplanned pregnancy, suicide, death threats, cheating, dead bodies, talk of dead animals, and bulimia. If you're into that sort of thing then watch it.

Anyways time to go watch the Keanu Reeves 1986 version.