River’s Edge 1986: I saw this movie about a month ago so it’s going to take me a bit of time to remember it… This movie stars another very odd cast: Keanu Reeves (Matt), Crispin Glover (Layne), Dennis Hopper (Feck), and Daniel Roebuck (Samson). This movie was inspired by a true story that occurred in 1981. In River’s Edge, Samson (A.K.A John) kills a teen girl named Jamie, and it focuses on the different reactions of the friends of the killer and the victim.
The only family that you get to see is Matt’s (Keanu) family. Matt’s character is a lot like Derek in Keanu’s other movie “The Brotherhood of Justice”, as he has conflicting feelings about the situation. He also seems the most level headed, and he’s observant of how the other students are reacting. Matt also has to deal with his younger brother and younger sister. He seems to want to be a good older brother but has difficulties with the family dynamic. In the two movies, the parents are not great role models for the children.
SPOILERS—ENDING
I’ve had to redo this ending like 3 times because of an auto-delete and auto-save loop.
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TAKEAWAY
I’m definitely oversimplifying, but my takeaway is that teens need stability, people who actually care about them, and a way to physically and personally connect with others so they can learn empathy. From what I’ve read, the apathy in this movie is a decent representation of the teens in the era. I’d say that teens, in general, go through a phase of apathy, I don’t know if it’s hormones or what. Whatever it is, I think this movie shows that aspect well. You can kind of see the different outlets for the people in this movie, from video games, drugs, alcohol, and even sex, and obviously none of them are right for these kids.
PERSONAL STUFF
In the era of social media, I believe that same level of apathy is continuing to encroach on teens today. Their outlets are, in a way, self-involved and self-serving. This era doesn’t get that same luxury of privacy as the older generations, or the barrier between being a human outside of social media and being in it. What I mean is, the older generation had time to develop themselves as individuals, and their personal relationships, before being subjected to Instagram, twitter, and Facebook. Again, this is an oversimplification, but I think it’s important to remember that teens are often more impressionable than adults, and they may actually need to be taught empathy.
Anyway, this movie was interesting. I don’t know how else to put it, it left a bit of an incomplete feeling with me, as though the real issue was never solved. That’s like real life. Would I watch it again if it were on T.V.? More likely that I would than I wouldn’t, but that incomplete feeling deters me a bit from re-watching. By the way, Crispin did a great job in this movie.
We’re not here to talk about Crispin, though, right? So let’s move on to Keanu’s acting. There’s one scene in this movie when he chases after his brother, Tim, that I think is well done on his part. His voice acting was good, his emotions were good, and his body language was good.
Movie: 7/10 Acting: 7/10
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