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River's Edge

 River's Edge
type
TVTItem
 River's Edge
label
River's Edge
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page
RiversEdge
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A 1986 teen crime drama film directed by Tim Hunter and starring Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover, Ione Skye, and Dennis Hopper, River's Edge depicts a group of high school friends who realize that they are in the presence of a murderer.John (Daniel Roebuck) shows up at school and tells his friends that he killed his girlfriend Jamie. At first none of the other teens believe him... until he shows them Jamie's corpse, left for days along the river's edge. The teen group then argues over what to do, finally settling on Layne's (Glover) plan to protect John since "Jamie's dead but John's still alive." This still doesn't sit well with Clarissa (Skye) or Matt (Reeves), and things get worse when the cops are finally told about Jamie's murder. Now Layne has a plan to hide John out somewhere while he goes and hunts down the one he thinks ratted John out...
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2023-05-12T11:59:29Z
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2023-05-12T11:59:29Z
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Dropped link to EasyRider: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to PokingDeadThingsWithAStick: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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Dropped link to TheDeterminator: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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Poking Dead Things with a Stick
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TheDeterminator
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DBTropes
 River's Edge / int_1392fbe7
type
Drunk Driver
 River's Edge / int_1392fbe7
comment
Drunk Driver: Both Layne and John drink while driving.
 River's Edge / int_1392fbe7
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River's Edge / int_1392fbe7
 River's Edge / int_272abb98
type
Shoot the Shaggy Dog
 River's Edge / int_272abb98
comment
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Feck's execution of John made all of Layne's efforts worthless. Nothing else really happens or gets resolved at the end, except for the teens attending two funerals for two dead friends.
 River's Edge / int_272abb98
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 River's Edge / int_2d4fa515
type
Ax-Crazy
 River's Edge / int_2d4fa515
comment
Ax-Crazy: John. Subverted with Feck. At first he seems to be this, but by the end of the movie we see that he's one of the more sane characters.
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 River's Edge / int_2dc0d2bf
type
Hidden Depths
 River's Edge / int_2dc0d2bf
comment
Hidden Depths: Despite being a killer and apparently crazy, Feck is remorseful after having killed a girl twenty years prior to the movie taking place. It is obvious that he's not really all that proud of it, and he is bothered by it.
 River's Edge / int_2dc0d2bf
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 River's Edge / int_38d12399
type
Teens Are Monsters
 River's Edge / int_38d12399
comment
Teens Are Monsters: John kills his girlfriend, brags about it to his friends, shows them his girlfriend's body, and his peers don't even do anything. One even attempts to help get rid of the body.
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 River's Edge / int_392372f9
type
Actor Allusion
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comment
Actor Allusion: Feck talks briefly about how he was a biker years previously. The actor, Dennis Hopper, gained fame for his role in the classic biker flick Easy Rider When the teenagers are discussing running away to Portland, Tony mentions they can travel america like the characters in Easy Rider.
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 River's Edge / int_4e3d253b
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Downer Ending
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comment
Downer Ending: Feck kills John, both to spare the teen from prison and because Feck realizes the boy is becoming a monster. In a twist, Feck is last seen getting arrested with the implication that he's actually looking forward to it, knowing he had done the right thing killing John as well as finally answering for killing his own girlfriend decades earlier.
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 River's Edge / int_6b05b601
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Jerkass Has a Point
 River's Edge / int_6b05b601
comment
But it's probably a case of Jerkass Has a Point
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 River's Edge / int_6db06839
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The Stoner
 River's Edge / int_6db06839
comment
The Stoner: Matt. While all of the kids smoke pot at least once in the film, Matt is the only one that is an out and out "stoner".
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 River's Edge / int_7335ffa9
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Grey-and-Gray Morality
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comment
Grey-and-Gray Morality
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 River's Edge / int_823c6e3e
type
Large Ham
 River's Edge / int_823c6e3e
comment
Large Ham: Layne played by Crispin Glover. To call his ways in this film overacting would be an understatement.
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 River's Edge / int_868409c
type
Broken Pedestal
 River's Edge / int_868409c
comment
Broken Pedestal: Clarissa realizes that her teacher is an asshole after he goes on a rant about the murder. Until that point, she had idolized him. But it's probably a case of Jerkass Has a Point
 River's Edge / int_868409c
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 River's Edge / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 River's Edge / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing Subverted. In the end kids in the group say that each of them can be killed this day. At this moment Tim, Matt's brother is still at large and with the gun intending to kill Matt. In the end he doesn't go through with it.
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 River's Edge / int_9fe35833
type
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
 River's Edge / int_9fe35833
comment
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Not his mother, but his aunt (who seems to be suffering from some sort of mental disability). Upon seeing that the cops are at his doorstep, John's only reaction is "I hope they don't upset Aunto". John's Berserk Button is apparently someone mouthing off about his dead mother. Hence why he killed Jamie.
 River's Edge / int_9fe35833
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River's Edge / int_9fe35833
 River's Edge / int_a70223
type
Karma Houdini
 River's Edge / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: even though the police know that he was an accomplice to murder, even more so than the rest of the kids, Layne faces no punishment for going out of his way to protect John.
 River's Edge / int_a70223
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River's Edge / int_a70223
 River's Edge / int_a939d96a
type
Adults Are Useless
 River's Edge / int_a939d96a
comment
Adults Are Useless: Barely any show up, and the ones who do either don't get it or refuse to. The only adult with any understanding is Feck... and he's a drug-dealing fugitive who resolves the matter by killing the teen he'd been asked to help.
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 River's Edge / int_ab5eea65
type
Dramatic Irony
 River's Edge / int_ab5eea65
comment
Dramatic Irony: In one scene Layne tells Matt how he JUST KNOWS that Mike was the one to rat on John. Matt was actually the rat Layne even sarcastically suggests that Matt was the rat.
 River's Edge / int_ab5eea65
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 River's Edge / int_ad1db87c
type
Oh, Crap!
 River's Edge / int_ad1db87c
comment
Oh, Crap!: When Tim sees that Matt knows Tim destroyed the monument to their sister's doll.
 River's Edge / int_ad1db87c
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 River's Edge / int_ae3d6438
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Deadpan Snarker
 River's Edge / int_ae3d6438
comment
Deadpan Snarker: This exchange:
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 River's Edge / int_b53077b3
type
Take That!
 River's Edge / int_b53077b3
comment
Take That!: It takes the pop cheeriness of the John Hughes teen films of that era and nukes them from orbit. It's bleaker than Heathers.
 River's Edge / int_b53077b3
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 River's Edge / int_b707726f
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Hypocritical Humor
 River's Edge / int_b707726f
comment
Hypocritical Humor: Matt reprimands his little sister for saying "Damn". He then promptly says "Shit".
 River's Edge / int_b707726f
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1.0
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 River's Edge / int_bc74ef27
type
Berserk Button
 River's Edge / int_bc74ef27
comment
John's Berserk Button is apparently someone mouthing off about his dead mother. Hence why he killed Jamie.
 River's Edge / int_bc74ef27
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 River's Edge / int_c10da874
type
The '80s
 River's Edge / int_c10da874
comment
The '80s: Slightly subverted. The fashion sense and behaviors have more in common with the Grunge movement of The '90s. Given the setting as the Pacific Northwest, this was probably unavoidable.
 River's Edge / int_c10da874
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 River's Edge / int_c313d43a
type
True Companions
 River's Edge / int_c313d43a
comment
True Companions: How Layne views the group. No one else seems to think so. They start to fall apart without Jamie.
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 River's Edge / int_c4dc0698
type
The Soulless
 River's Edge / int_c4dc0698
comment
The Soulless: John shows no remorse for killing his girlfriend and stripping her corpse. Tim would also qualify, as he shows no empathy whatsoever, for anyone. He goes out of his way to traumatize his little sister.
 River's Edge / int_c4dc0698
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 River's Edge / int_d001c42c
type
Anti-Villain
 River's Edge / int_d001c42c
comment
Anti-Villain: Layne, who tries to preserve the existence of the group and get everyone else acting by the intragroup rules.
 River's Edge / int_d001c42c
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 River's Edge / int_e2d457
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The Ditz
 River's Edge / int_e2d457
comment
The Ditz: Maggie
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 River's Edge / int_e4b69188
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Very Loosely Based on a True Story
 River's Edge / int_e4b69188
comment
Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Based on what happened in 1981 to Marcy Renee Conrad.
 River's Edge / int_e4b69188
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 River's Edge / int_f032f3c0
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Hippie Teacher
 River's Edge / int_f032f3c0
comment
Hippie Teacher: Interestingly zigzagged with Mr. Burkewaite who appears in this film twice. First in the beginning he delivers a speech about the progress made by the US society due to the 60's Civil rights movement in 60's. Then it the ending he somewhat too energetically reprimands the students for not caring about the death of their mate. He reproaches both those students who did not report the murderer as well as the rest the class. He finishes his diatribe with the remark than all pupils do not care about the death of their classmate as if they did they'd be out on the street hunting down John. Thus becoming a proponent of vigilantism and posses no less.
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River's Edge

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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Drop Dead Gorgeous / int_ecb4293e
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Effeminate Misogynistic Guy / int_ecb4293e
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Hippie Teacher / int_ecb4293e
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Poking Dead Things with a Stick / int_ecb4293e
 RiversEdge
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River's Edge
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You Must Be Cold / int_ecb4293e