Saturday, January 16, 2010

1.15.2010




20. River's Edge
21. Ransom

Friday night at the movies saw a couple of random choices. Again. After Thursday's numeric theme, I decided to go with 'R' movies this time out. Here's the scoop...

Started off with 1986's River's Edge. This flick tells the story of a high school student who kills his girlfriend and brags about it to all of his friends. Their reactions, and lack of in some cases, make up the central plot. You've got a solid cast here. Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover and Ione Skye are the 3 leads. Dennis Hopper and the perpetually creepy Joshua Miller provide solid support. The story is interesting in that it examines the lives of people who genuinely seem to not care that one of their friends is dead. When you factor in that it was inspired by a series of true events, it makes you think even more. All in all, it's a really good movie but a tad bit depressing.

I followed River's Edge with 1996's Ransom. This Ron Howard movie stars Mel Gibson as a multi-millionaire owner of an airline whose son gets kidnapped and held for...ransom. Hence, the title. Anywho, great cast here. Gibson, Gary Sinise, Delroy Lindo, Rene Russo, Liev Schreiber and even Donnie Wahlberg are all really good here. This flick came out well before Gibson went batshit crazy and when he was one of the biggest names in Hollywood. The story is pretty standard stuff but it's done well here. Lots of action and tension keep the flick going by at a solid pace. I didn't start watching this until it was already past my bedtime figuring I could finish the next day but I just got sucked right in. Overall, Ransom is a solid thriller and is worth a watch just for some of the performances.

1 comment:

EileenWanita said...

Did I ever tell you that the plot of "River's Edge" pretty much happened in Big Rapids in 2001? There was a dead body in the woods and some local college students found it, and instead of reporting it to the police, they held parties by it and passed fliers around (which is how the cops eventually found out).

I really liked this movie. It was weird and depressing like you said,but good.