River Runs Red 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

River Runs Red 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 12, 2018

Black lives may matter, but it may be kind of sadly debatable how much River Runs Red does. This oddly fragmented tale would seem to have the cultural zeitgeist in its cinematic corner (so to speak), with a story involving at least a couple of deaths of young men, one of whom is black and both of whom are minorities, at the hands of police officers, but in a sign that sometimes upstart treatments of touchy subject matters can be the most effective, I’d personally have to say that an entry like Blindspotting, which offered a similar plot element of a police shooting of an unarmed black man as almost a sidebar to its main story, may ironically offer more visceral emotional impact, something that really is kind of surprising given that at least parts of that Oakland based film are played for laughs. River Runs Red is very dramatic, on the other hand, but it’s the kind of overheated drama that is frequently the stuff of “ripped from the headlines” made for television movies, which is often what this film plays like. A number of strands are introduced, only to be predictably woven together as various intersections are explored, but the film still has a kind of diffused, emotionally distant tone that is not helped but some fairly clunky dialogue given to a number of characters who are in the throes of various kinds of trauma.

It’s probably no huge surprise to state that American culture has become increasingly “tribal”, and there is certainly an “us vs. them” subtext running through the film. The first “us” is Charles Coleman (Taye Diggs) and his sweet little boy CJ, with Dad “educating” his boy about the exploits of one Muhammed Ali at a museum exhibit about the iconic boxer. We get another vignette showing Charles attempting to hoist himself out of poverty by attending law school, but seeming to fail, if not miserably, then at least a little humiliatingly. But then — the film just segues forward several years to find Charles ensconced as his town’s sole black judge. His previously very briefly seen wife Eve (Jennifer Tao) is a police officer, and young man CJ (Joseph Belk) is about to follow his parents’ law enforcement footsteps by attending the local police academy.

Things take a tragic turn when CJ is shot dead by an unscrupulous cop named Rory (Gianni Capaldi), who it is telegraphed is a “bad guy” courtesy of his disheveled appearance, generally crass demeanor, and his penchant for cigar smoking. His partner Von (Luke Hemsworth, looking like he packed on a few pounds for the role) is putatively the better of the two bad cops, but seems to be under Rory’s sway, so that when incriminating evidence is placed on CJ’s corpse, he doesn’t raise much of a fuss. Already the film is teetering at the edge of ridiculous melodrama — the admittedly piecemeal screenplay has made it clear that Charles is the only black guy in town, and is the town’s judge, and Eve is a cop herself, so wouldn’t Rory and Von realize whose kid they were dealing with? But questions like this are probably best left by the wayside, since River Runs Red is almost desperately intent to deliver some kind of message, even if it’s kind of unclear what exactly that message is supposed to be.

Two sidebar characters who have been introduced end up playing into the story once CJ is killed. Charles’ policeman friend Horace (John Cusack), who had promised to look out for CJ at the police academy, starts offering Charles more than merely moral support. But when Charles finds out the cops who killed his son have a rather shaded past, he ends up forging a relationship with another grieving father, a mechanic named Javier (George Lopez). It’s here that the film may ultimately shoot itself in the foot (sorry), with the two unlikely figures going on a quest for vengeance that kind of plays like a Death Wish pas de deux (so to speak). It’s just patently ridiculous, not helped by some of the most unconvincing fight scenes and car chases in recent film history. (There’s a sequence with Charles and Javier chasing some bad guys in their car, with the bad guys backing up slowly through oncoming traffic on a highway to get away, in what may actually be a laugh provoking moment.)

River Runs Red obviously had noble intentions, but the story is ultimately so ludicrous that it makes any heart rending element seem moot. Performances are oddly mismatched as well, with Diggs almost approaching a “mumblecore” tamped down ambience, and Lopez playing to the second (and maybe even third) balcony. The ending may seem to rather strangely suggest that “all lives matter”, but perhaps not in the way the filmmakers may have thought.

River Runs Red 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.

River Runs Red is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Cinedigm with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. I go into a bit of my detective work determining the technical aspects of the shoot in our River Runs Red Blu-ray review, and if my assumption of a 2K DI based on a digitally captured source is correct, this 4K presentation offers the same kinds of upticks in detail and fine detail levels that are regularly seen in similar situations. Cinedigm doesn't advertise any HDR on its cover, and I in fact didn't see any "HDR", "HDR10+" and/or "Dolby Vision" notification as the disc booted as I typically do, but the info tab on my Oppo stated HDR is "there", and there is what to my eyes was marginal if not incredible improvement in shadow definition in the many darker scenes in the film, as well as an at least somewhat more suffused and full bodied looking palette. On the other hand, I'm frankly not sure the increased resolution really supports the appearance of the "grain" in this version. Parts of this presentation looked reasonably organic, but there are a number of other moments where things look decidedly unnatural. One notable example is shortly after the 51 minute mark, where two dimly lit scenes, one with Lopez and the next with Diggs, have weird, almost layered looking, splotchiness in the background that kind of hovers somewhere between noise and frozen grain.

River Runs Red 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

River Runs Red features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that gets occasional jolts of sonic electricity courtesy of things like gunshots, but which tends to get most of its surround activity courtesy of the dolorous piano suffused score by Pierre Heath, as well as occasional ambient environmental sounds. The final third or so the film bursts into action adventure territory, with fights and chases, and the sound design here does provide consistent immersion. Dialogue (such as it is) is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout.

River Runs Red 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with the 1080p Blu-ray included with this release, the 4K UHD disc offers no supplementary material.

River Runs Red 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

River Runs Red actually makes some interesting points, but some of the most interesting are almost tangential to the main story, with Charles' life as a judge colliding with the realities of what it means to sentence someone as a felon. The main story here is both too hackneyed and ultimately too unbelievable to ever resonate, though it's obvious that Wes Miller "feels" this situation deeply and was striving to make some kind of point. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase, though that said, I'm not sure this film offers the kind of visuals or sound design that would "require" a 4K UHD version.