River's Edge

Synopsis: A group of high school friends must come to terms with the fact that one of them, Samson, killed another, Jamie. Reactions vary, as Layne is intent on protecting Samson and smuggling him out of the state, while others think it's best to go to the police. Matt's tough little brother also finds out about the body and no one knows quite how the police will learn about the murder or who will be blamed for it.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Director(s): Tim Hunter
Production: Island
  4 wins & 5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.1
Metacritic:
73
Rotten Tomatoes:
86%
R
Year:
1986
99 min
1,235 Views


- It's a real nice sign. How much?|- I have to see ID.

- I left it at home. How much?|- Not unless you show me ID.

- Stop being a sh*t. Keep the change, man.|- I'm not keeping it. I have to see ID.

I don't have any. I been coming here|three months, Frank never carded me.

Frank lost his job because|he didn't get proper ID when he sold beer.

Why you being an a**hole? Take the|money and let me get the f*** out of here.

- It's the law and the policy...|- I don't give a f*** about you,

and I don't give a f*** about your laws.

- Take the goddamn money, all right?|- Let go of the beer.

- Don't be an a**hole.|- Let go of the beer.

- Dick.|- Shithead.

Dick.

Don't mention it.

I saw you this morning.

Yeah?

Got any dope?

No.

Get in. I know where to get some.

Where are we going?

Feck's.

Radical.

He did something bad to her, I know it.

We'll find her.|Where is that brother of yours?

Where's my Missy?

- I killed her.|- No!

I drowned her.

- A man's trying to sleep.|- Shh, Kim, please.

- You little punk.|- I said I'm trying to sleep up here!

Please, Kim.|We'll make him buy you a new one.

It wouldn't be the same,|I want my Missy back.

Why are you so mean?

- Where are you going?|- Somebody is trying to sleep.

Stick your head up your ass if you|want quiet. Tim, you get back here.

Tim!

- Lighten up.|- Tim.

Remember my age.

Stupid enough you pull a stunt like that,|but then to brag about it...

Open this door.

Hurry your ass!

Be right there.

- He's here early. Drug run, right?|- None of your business.

Matt!

What about your other doll, pretty Tracy?

- No.|- I'll make the turdface buy you a new one.

I don't want the turdface to buy me|a new one. I want you to beat him up.

Oh, honey... Tim?

- Tim.|- Matt!

- Going to Feck's, huh?|- What do you know about Feck?

Beat it, fart.

Let me go with you guys.|Could show you a dead body.

What? You got a girlfriend now?

I'm not kidding. Look, I'm dying for a joint.

Aww!

You get back in this house|right this instant. Tim. Tim!

What's this? Feck doesn't charge.

I charge. What? You think this car|runs on God's own methane?

- I don't know.|- Where were you last night, anyhow?

John was getting all out of control.

- I'll bet. Who else was there?|- Jamie.

Oh, Jamie. I didn't miss anything.

Now, Clarissa, maybe.

Keep your hands off Clarissa, dude.

Sh*t, what am I worried about?

Feck.

What? Are you dying in there?

Feck.

Feck.

Feck.

- Cheque's in the mail.|- It's me, Feck, Layne. Don't shoot, OK?

I could blow your brains out.

- I know, Feck.|- I shot a girl once.

I know. You keep telling me that.|You want to lower that barrel some?

I am your friend.

Yeah, you say so, huh?

- You're my friend?|- Yeah.

Yeah, maybe so.

- Don't you try anything.|- OK.

Why don't you and Matt come in and, uh...

- see Ellie?|- Oh!

I'd love to, Feck, you know?|But we're kind of, we're late for school...

- Oh, yeah.|- Yeah.

Well? How much you want, then?

Aw, come on. No, I came by to see|how you're doing, good old Feck.

Yeah, good old Feck.

Yeah. How much you want?

Just a couple of joints.

Wait here.

- You're my friend.|- Of course.

She had it coming, man.

Yeah, I know, Feck. You know,|women are evil. You had to kill her.

- Yeah. They're still after me, you know.|- Yeah.

- All right. See you.|- All right, see you.

Thanks for the weed.

Friends.

You're my friend.

Ellie, huh? The gun - did he have the gun?

Right.

You're my friend.

- Gimme a cigarette, man.|- You f***ing gave up cigarettes.

- I gave up yesterday, not today.|- I gave up lending.

Learn some self-control,|you're interrupting. Go on.

I don't know. I just figured|we could dump this place, you know?

Go up there, and if we like it,|we stay, don't come back.

- Where did you get Portland?|- Well, nobody knows us up there.

- People know us here?|- I know you, babe.

That's really annoying.

So, what, man?|We could be lumberjacks or something?

- There's other things to do.|- Like what?

- Like get stoned.|- It almost sounds like a plan.

Except we're all broke,|and I'm the only one with a car.

We could just take all our parents' money,|take off, discover America,

and make like we're Easy Rider plus five.

I gotta go. Burkewaite's gonna|have a spaz attack if I'm late.

She's in love with his middle-aged ass.

He's not middle-aged, a**hole. Hi, John.

Didn't think you'd make it.

Where's Jamie?

- I killed her.|- She'll be in trouble if she keeps ditching.

- You what?|- I killed her.

You're strange, John.

What did you do, man? Sit on her?

They don't believe me.

Crazy f***ing story like that,|why should anyone believe you?

If you brought us all the way|out here for nothing...

Come on.

It's a joke. What BS.

You crazy motherf***er, John.

- Do you see this?|- Yeah, I see it.

You crazy motherf***er.

Why did you kill her?

She was talking sh*t.

You could fry for this, you know.

Yeah.

This is unreal, completely unreal.

Matt.

- What's with you?|- We better go, huh?

John.

It's like some f***ing movie, you know?

Friends since second grade,|f***ing like this.

And then one of us gets himself|in potentially big trouble,

and now we've gotta deal with it. We've|gotta test our loyalty against all odds.

It's kind of exciting.

I feel like Chuck Norris, you know?

So, what was accomplished?

I mean, that's the normal question.

All the hippies are executives now,|and everybody's sold out.

Well, let me tell you something, Tom.|Save it, Kevin.

Fundamental changes were made,

changes so basic|that we now take 'em for granted.

The civil rights movement,|later the Women's Movement.

I mean, like it or not, ladies,|you're now expected to have careers,

then maybe later|the husbands and the babies.

And Vietnam.

We stopped a war, man.

We took to the streets|and made a difference.

We turned public sentiment around,

and we made people see the truth. Not|that we always thought good thoughts.

Cops around you cracking skulls,|you got a picket sign in your hand,

you're not thinking about|stopping the war now,

you're thinking about|knocking a few pigs on their asses.

But as crazy as it all seemed, though,

there was a meaning in the madness,|a clear and a real purpose.

- But don't you think violence is wrong?|- F*** off, Kevin. Wasting pigs is radical.

You missed my point.

- Come on, let's go grab a smoke.|- You go on, I'll be there in a minute.

You're hooked.

- Yes.|- Bullshit.

Would I lie?

- You really...|- Really what?

- No way.|- Look, dude.

I saw it right there in front of me.|I poked at it with a stick.

- No chance.|- Poked at what?

- By the river, huh?|- Tony.

We'll take you there,|and we'll show you. Right, Matt?

- Count me out, OK?|- Count you out of what?

What's by the river,|and what are you guys talking about?

- Layne's saying Samson killed Jamie.|- No way.

And you believe them?

A bunch of us are going|out there to check it out.

I don't know. It's probably some joke.

Yeah, they're just trying to lure|you up there so they can rape you.

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Neal Jimenez

Neal Jimenez (born May 22, 1960) is a screenwriter and film director, best known for the 1986 film River's Edge. He was a member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994. He won Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Feature and Best Screenplay for The Waterdance.Jimenez attended UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. In 1984, while a film student, he went hiking with some friends and slipped on a rock, falling twenty feet into a shallow pool below. He was initially paralyzed from the neck down but subsequent surgeries restored movement to his upper body and he has been a paraplegic since. The film The Waterdance, which he wrote and co-directed, was partly based on his experience in rehabilitation. He is of Mexican American descent. more…

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