River’s Edge
1986, R, 99 min.
Directed by Tim Hunter, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye Leitch, Roxana Zal, Daniel Roebuck, Jim Metzler, Dennis Hopper.

Teenage anomie lies at the heart of this disturbing portrait of a group of youths who cope with the fallout that results after one of their group members kills a girl and leaves her naked body on the river bank. The wild-eyed leader of the clique (Crispin Glover) convinces the teens not to tell any adults; a one-legged old biker/dope dealer (Dennis Hopper) also offers his counsel when he’s not dancing with his inflatable sex doll. Beautifully photographed by Frederick Elmes, the visuals are often at odds with the barreness at the movie’s core.

This article appears in December 31 • 1999.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.