Themes: Sibling Relationships, Faltering Friendships, Innocence Lost
Main Cast: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck, Dennis Hopper
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The nude, strangled body of a teenaged girl lies on the edge of the river. Her murderer is her boyfriend, Daniel Roebuck. All the kids in Roebuck's dismal, dead-end town know who committed the murder. Trouble is, no one bothers to turn Roebuck in; some of the teens don't know how to react to the crime, while others, strung out on drugs and booze, just don't give a damn. A study of contemporary alienation, River's Edge was based on a real-life incident that occurred in Milpitas, California, in 1981. That same year, Neal Jimenez wrote his screenplay for River's Edge, but was not able to finance the project until 1987. Except for Dennis Hopper, cast as a holdover from the sixties who hobbles about on one leg and makes love to a blow-up doll, the cast was largely comprised of unknowns, many of whom (Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye) would definitely be heard from in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Tim Hunter's 1987 The River's Edge arrived a few years after the disaffected teen pictures of the late 1970s and early 1980s, such as Foxes, The Outsiders, and the Hunter-scripted Over the Edge. These films were cautionary tales inspired by the proliferation of drugs, sex, and parental negligence, and their tone was reminiscent of the restless-youth pictures of the 1950s. River's Edge, on the other hand, captured the dead-end world and incidental amorality of its teen characters with a distant, cerebral eye. Quietly artsy, the movie's unsensational commentary is guided along by ironic, scene-stealing performances from Dennis Hopper and Crispin Glover. Seldom has Hopper's crazed rebellion been exploited to better effect. Even his reclusive drug dealer can't fathom the amorality of the kids who surround him. As the leader of the teens, Glover isn't conventionally menacing. He's more of a personification of the "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" commercial, with an oddly sweet side to him. His warped, eerie performance is miles away from anything seen in typical estranged-youth movies. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Joshua Miller - Tim, Matt's Brother; Leo Rossi - Jim; Josh Richman - Tony; Tom Bower - Bennett; Roxana Zal - Maggie; Constance Forslund - Madeleine; Phil Brock - Mike; Maryedith Burrell; Danyl Deats - Jamie; Jim Metzler - Burkewaite, Teacher; Taylor Negron - Checker; Tammy Smith - Kim, Matt's Sister; James Terry - Cop; Chris Peters - Tom; Frances de L'Etanche Du Bois - Aunto; Michael Hungerford - Tony's Father; Yuzo Nishihara - Moko; Maeve Odum - Student; Richard Richcreek - Kevin
Credit
Mick Muhlfriedel - Art Director, David Streit - Co-producer, Claudia Brown - Costume Designer, Tim Hunter - Director, Sonya Sones - Editor, Sonya Sones Tramer - Editor, Howard E. Smith - Editor, John Daly - Executive Producer, Derek Gibson - Executive Producer, Jürgen Knieper - Composer (Music Score), Gabor Kernyaiszky - Makeup, Kenny Myers - Makeup, John Muto - Production Designer, Frederick Elmes - Cinematographer, Sarah Pillsbury - Producer, Midge Sanford - Producer, Anne Huntley-Ahrens - Set Designer, Neal Jimenez - Screenwriter
Broussard bragged of raping and murdering Conrad, later showing the body to at least thirteen different people; despite this, the crime went unreported for two days.[3][4]
Broussard pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life with parole possible after 16 years and 8 months.[2] The 6-foot, 4-inch, 280-pound teenager had been mentally disturbed since finding his mother dead in the shower at the age of seven. Kirk Rasmussen, 16, was sentenced to three years in a juvenile center for kicking dirt and leaves to help hide the girl's partially clad body.[5]
Broussard was denied a new trial in 1985,[6] and was denied parole in 1996.[7]
Neal Jimenez read about 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. He got a "C+" so he rewrote it again and received an "A". Jimenez said, "that the incident is merely the inspiration for the screenplay".[8]
Plot summary
A group of high school friends discover that they are in the presence of a killer. One of them, Samson, has murdered his girlfriend Jamie. He brags to his friends about killing her, and when they discover he is telling the truth, their reactions vary. Layne, the self-proclaimed leader of the group, is intent on keeping the murder a secret and protecting Samson, while the rest of the group (Matt, Clarissa, Maggie, and Tony) want to go to the police.
Matt's 12-year-old brother Tim (Joshua John Miller) knows about the body and also knows which one of the five friends has been disloyal to Samson by telling the cops.
According to the Internet Movie Database, most outdoor scenes were shot in and around screenwriter Neal Jimenez's hometown of Sacramento. Jimenez has stated that many of the film's characters were based on friends with whom he grew up.
^ ab Klinger, Karen. - "A Town Looks at a Murder: Many Could Share the Blame". - Detroit Free Press. - July 25, 1982.
—IMAGES of Conrad and Broussard: "Marcy and the Killer". - GeoCities.
^ Hoover, Ken. - "Parole Denied to Killer Of Milpitas Teenager". - The San Francisco Chronicle. - August 17, 1996.
^ Villagran, Nora. - "'River's' Writer: 'I Made It Up' Filmmakers Say Movie Depicts a Rootless Post-Watergate World". - San Jose Mercury News. - May 22, 1987.
