Plot: What’s it about?
River’s Edge is based on a true story and deals with the murder of a young woman, as well as the circle of friends that know how it happened. While a naked female corpse is draped on the bank of a river, a young man, Samson (Daniel Roebuck) begins to detail to his friends how he took her life. But of course, his friends have their doubts and since they all use a lot of drugs, no one can be sure just when the truth is present. So even when Samson assures his buddies that he strangled the young woman, they don’t believe him and even his best friend Matt (Keanu Reeves) is hesitant. There is a certain path to discover the truth though and since Samson contends he is not lying, the gaggle of teens head down the river’s edge, to see for themselves. They soon find out he was telling the truth and as a favor to their friend, the teens swear themselves to silence and decide to protect Samson. But Matt is torn over the issue, as he feels pulled between his duties as a friend and his conscience, which will not allow the image of the slain girl to leave his mind.
I like the idea of a good movie on a good disc for a good price, which is just the case with MGM’s River’s Edge. I don’t think this is a great movie and the disc isn’t either, but at this nice price, I think the flick is well worth a look. I like River’s Edge more than a little though, thanks in part to a cast that includes Keanu “Whoa” Reeves, Ione Skye, Dennis Hopper, and Crispin Glover, among others. The movie slips here and there, but still manages to be a more than solid effort, with some cool darker traits mixed in. Now, River’s Edge is not a bleak film in most respects, but since it touches on some rather dark issues, that might scare some folks off. But this isn’t a sick and twisted movie in the end, it just deals with some dark subjects and blends them into the storyline, which seems to work well enough. A few sequences are on the chilling side, but not so much for violence, more that they’re eerie and very well crafted. This disc has a new anamorphic transfer and little else to offer, but with a solid movie and a low price, this release is very recommended.
I’ve never been confident in Keanu Reeves’ more dramatic skills, but I was impressed with his work here. That isn’t to say he deserves an award, but he went above and beyond my expectations, which helped the movie a lot in the end. Perhaps it was the actors around him, like he elevated his work to keep up, but whatever he did, Reeves is very good here. I am unsure why he doesn’t always strive for this level of skill, but perhaps sometime he will return to this type of performance. If you want more Keanu flicks, check out The Matrix, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Replacements, Feeling Minnesota, The Watcher, and Chain Reaction. The cast here also includes Daniel Roebuck (Final Destination, U.S. Marshals), Joshua Miller (Teen Witch), Ione Skye (Wayne’s World, Four Rooms), Crispin Glover (Back to the Future, The People Vs. Larry Flynt), and Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider, True Romance). The director here is Tim Hunter, who also worked on such television shows as Beverly Hills 90210, Twin Peaks, Central Park West, Falcon Crest, and Chicago Hope.
Video: How does it look?
River’s Edge is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. I’m very pleased here, not much to complain about with this very solid visual presentation. Some grain does surface to spoil the fun at times, but the source print is pretty clean and I saw no traces of compression errors. The contrast runs a little dark here and there, but black levels are well defined and detail level looks smooth here. A natural scope is shown in the colors, but that doesn’t mean they look bad, as this is a good treatment of the hues. It’s nice to have a new anamorphic transfer for this movie and in the end, the small flaws aren’t enough to ruin this shindig.
Audio: How does it sound?
This movie doesn’t call for much audio boom, so the rather basic audio presentation is more than adequate. The music sounds terrific here, although not as full as I’d like, while sound effects come across in decent enough form. But in the end, this isn’t the kind of film you watch for dynamic audio, so if that’s what you want, then check out an action flick instead. The main focus of this mix is the dialogue, which sounds crisp and with no volume issues, very clean track in all respects. This disc also includes Spanish & French subtitles, as well as English captions.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the film’s theatrical trailer.
