River's Edge
[whoa]
Listen "spazzy" "hoodlum!" "Out there" you'll find "creepy" "creepy, creepy, creepy" "creepiest minutes" with "creepy Dennis Hopper"
Possibly the creepiest 89 minutes of Keanuthon, although apparently a cult favorite. (With all those Crispin Glover fans out there? The closet Dennis Hopper aficionados? Or just Necrophiliacs Anonymous?) Keanu has a large role as another misunderstood teen who just wants to do the right thing, but he still can't save everyone else from being creepy, creepy, creepy.
The bad youth in the US seem a lot badder than those in Canada (see "One Step Away"), what with the necrophilia and Dennis Hopper and whatnot. Bandies about the fabled, classic "dork" vs. "shithead" argument with predictable results (there can almost never be a winner in such a delightfully circular argument; I'm sure doctoral thesises have been written on the subject). Another example (although much more obvious than say, "Youngblood") of perverse entertainment value. Keanu is really good in this one (boy, am I a broken record) and Dennis Hopper is so damn goofily creepy (without intention on his part) he is almost bearable. Not sure it is the hidden gem many make it out to be, but I'd rather watch it than "Matrix: Revolting" any day.
Keanu is actually pretty good in this movie. Unfortunately his performance is overshadowed by an especially creepy Dennis Hopper, an overacting and spazzy Crispin Glover, and an oddly effeminate hoodlum younger brother. The story is definitely an attempt to make a statement about teenagers' disattachment, but does so in one of the strangest ways I've seen. We do get to experience Keanu's first sex scene. Not sure if that is good or bad; it just is. There are many sentimentally funny scenes in this movie (anything with Dennis Hopper and a blow-up sex doll; Crispin Glover with a weird haircut and a spot-on Brad Pitt in "12 Monkeys" twitch; the younger brother's friend with nunchucks) that make me really want to laugh at its absurdity and almost give it a [whooa], but I just cannot.
Cast
Keanu Reeves
Layne
Clarissa
Feck
Kevin
Samson 'John' Tollet