Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

River's Edge Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 1, 2015

The kids of America get real dark in 1987’s “River’s Edge,” an exaggerated mash-up of juvenile delinquent movies from the 1950s and teen malaise of the 1980s. Those accustomed to a traditional read of adolescent panic in the face of behavioral extremity are bound to be baffled by director Tim Hunter’s strange effort. Favoring quirk and blunt edges to performances, the feature takes some time to get used to, never quite gelling as a statement of moral erosion or a dissection of volatile peer politics. However, it’s an interesting film, filled with meditative moments and fragments of psychological insight that help to deepen the core conflict. “River’s Edge” certainly isn’t something that’s watched casually, confronting viewers with a sharp display of developing insanity that demands a unique level of concentration, tasked to get past the picture’s era-specific flavorings and isolate its primal scream intent.

In a lonely town, bulky teen Samson (Daniel Roebuck) has murdered his girlfriend for unknown reasons, leaving her nude body exposed by the local river. Casually admitting his crime to his friends, including Matt (Keanu Reeves), Clarissa (Ione Skye), and Layne (Crispin Glover), Samson shows no remorse, rattling his peers with his cold behavior. Looking to Feck (Dennis Hopper), the local drug dealer and sex-doll-toting neighbor, for advice, Layne begins plans to get rid of the body and protect his pal, trusting everyone will follow his lead. When they resist, tensions rise, with Matt caught between his conscience and general apathy, eventually reporting the murder to police, which kicks off an investigation. Also in the mix is Tim (Joshua Miller), Matt’s little brother and a damaged kid looking to disturb the situation with his own brand of mischief, targeting Feck’s house to find a gun capable of threatening his dismissive sibling.

At first glance, the characters of “River’s Edge” seem like average teens, perpetually on the prowl for “sixers” and marijuana, taking fashion cues from heavy metal music and generally stuck in rusted rebellion until graduation day. Most of them are products of broken homes, with the screenplay by Neal Jimenez only exploring Matt’s domestic life, witnessing his combustible relationship with his helpless mother, slapping around a maliciously disobedient Tim and protective of his little sister. Mom has a lazy, combative live-in boyfriend, leaving Matt with nowhere to go, taking comfort in his friends, creating a bond among anti-authority types sliding through life stoned and belligerent. Group psychology is clear and scripted with genuine interest in parental influence, giving “River’s Edge” an air of authenticity as it launches a disturbing study of Samson’s emotional void after the murder of his girlfriend -- a young girl close to the rest of the gang, especially Clarissa.

Apathetic reactions to the murder make up the horror of “River’s Edge,” exploring the gang’s hesitance to accept what’s happened, preferring to drown shock with beer. Indifference is trumped by Layne’s lust to cover up the crime, imagining himself a hero as he conspires to remove the body from the open, striving to protect his buddy. Hope for humanity is found in Matt, who eventually recognizes the enormity of the situation, hoping to set thing straight by contacting the cops, only to become a suspect in the crime. It’s a grim picture, and Hunter certainly commits to a mood of paranoia and illness, with Feck a particularly shattered man who’s endured numerous tragedies and takes comfort in a blow-up sex doll while selling “Feckweed” to the local kids.

“River’s Edge” is abrasive but also weirdly melodramatic -- it’s Kazan crossed with 7 Seconds. Jurgen Knieper’s score underlines everything calamitous about the story, delivering awkward synth swells that steamroll over the intriguing silence of the crime. Hunter is also permissive with his actors, refusing to leash Glover, who delivers planet-devouring work as Layne. Either a performer massaging compelling quirks or perhaps the worst actor ever born, Glover’s magnet-pull toward extreme line-readings and apple-cheeked emotion throw “River’s Edge” out of whack, finding the rest of the cast choosing small moments while their co-star turns Layne’s increasing frustration into a gymnastics routine. Perhaps due to Glover’s excess, Reeves and Skye register with subtlety, capturing specific torment colliding with age-appropriate selfishness.

Tone is elastic for much of “River’s Edge.” There’s no concrete position of remorse or investigation to cling to, with Hunter embracing the switchback layout of the script. One minute, the picture is a searing look at careless teens and frustrated adults, the next it’s a “Twin Peaks” episode featuring an old man in a relationship with a piece of plastic (Hunter would go on to helm a few episodes of the David Lynch/Mark Frost series). Near the end of the movie, comedy pops in for a visit, finding a classroom debate on moral responsibility sharply moderated by an exasperated teacher. “River’s Edge” is all over the place, distractingly so at times, never acquiring a full understanding of the disaster at hand. Instead, it meanders and randomly surges in urgency, thinning out whatever horror Jimenez originally had in mind.

River's Edge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation delivers what appears to be a mostly accurate representation of the "River's Edge" theatrical experience. It's a difficult feature to nail down visually, with focus troubles and random softness disrupting consistency, but detail is relatively intact here, granting viewers a chance to survey set details, costume decoration, and pained close-ups. Colors are muted but approachable, retaining depressive atmosphere and pinkish skintones. Grain is erratic, dipping into chunky extremes, but it's filmic, bringing texture to the image. Blacks are serviceable for this style of cinematography, losing some delineation during evening encounters. Damage is contained to some speckling and scratches.

River's Edge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA track isn't one to indulge heft, retaining the feature's low-budget presence with a mild but secure collection of elements. Dialogue exchanges are handled comfortably, allowing a full understanding of emotional speeds, with character volatility failing to crisp during extremes in range. River-based atmospherics hold position without overwhelming the actors, pinpointing locations. Soundtrack selections aren't forceful, held down to represent car radio presentations, while scoring is more pronounced, bringing up the dramatic swell when necessary. Some faint hiss is detected.

River's Edge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Tim Hunter.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:59, HD) is included.

River's Edge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"River's Edge" is a bizarre movie, perhaps too overblown to summon intended distress, yet it contains an accurate summation of teen angst, with Hunter using his time on previous achievements such as "Over the Edge" and "Tex" to help shape the disoriented personalities unleashed here, capturing moments of unrest that pop through the murky adolescent haze. It rarely displays cohesion, especially with performance, and its conclusion leaves much to be desired, watching Jimenez work toward tragedy while Hunter maintains an After School Special vibe. "River's Edge" is inconsistent but undeniably fascinating, best consumed in bites of corroded behavior and hopelessness.