I read this film was loosely based on a true case. This could have been a better psychological journey for the characters but they were too bleak and lifeless, which is apparently the point. The Tim character bothered me because it was too unbelievable for a child to be so immoral and desensitised to the world around him and also make the decisions he did in the movie. Matt is played by Keanu and is Tim's brother. They come from a broken home. Keanu did OK in his role. Crispin Glover's character is basically a dreamer who is needy as hell with friends. Crispin's acting is.......? He sucks any drama from a scene but is was never gonnna be that type of movie anyway. As it's a movie about bizarre people I'm glad Crispin was there to provide one. There is also Samson 'John' aka toilet (killed her cuz she talked shit) . The character started off OK and the acting was good. He could have developed somewhat but he became a cliché. Feck was a there to be the oddball interplay between characters and it was fun to watch for obvious reasons. There is a scene near the end with a teacher that attempts to make a social commentary but it seemed pointless as we already know how dead these kids are on the inside by now and nobody by this point takes the movie serious.
It was bizarrely enjoyable, entertaining and had a 80s teen doom feel. I think people should watch it.

Did the sight of this dead girl move you in any particular way?

River's Edge is directed by Director: Tim Hunter and written by Neal Jimenez. It stars Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck, Dennis Hopper, Joshua John Miller, Roxana Zal and Josh Richman, Music is by Jürgen Knieper and cinematography by Frederick Elmes.

When a group of high school friends discover that one of their social group has murdered another - his girlfriend - they all react in various ways...

Based on an actual murder incident in 1981, "River's Edge" is a deeply unsettling film in how it probes the troubling underbelly of American youth. Naturally considered controversal at the time of release, it is however a fascinatingly brave portrait of disaffected youth via home and school life. The various reactions each member of the group serve up is chilling whilst baffling considering the reality of it all.

The screenplay is high quality because it doesn't demonise the "kids" for their bizzare response to a tragedy in there circle, instead we get complex characterisations that are smartly portrayed by the young cast. They in turn are bolstered by another edgy off the wall turn by Hopper (he did Blue Velvet as well this year), where his ex biker drug peddler also has a murder in his past and has given his love to a blow-up doll named Ellie.

Troubling in many ways, a sort of nihlistic youth apocalypse that's amazingly handled with a calm honesty, this still decades later remains an important film. 7.5/10