River's Edge (1986) review

A genuinely strange film, this one: a group of disaffected teenagers react indifferently to the murder of one of their "clique" by antisocial Daniel Roebuck and eventually Keanu Reeves turns him in, much to everyone else's dismay. Hunter and screenwriter Jiminez are obviously treating it as an apocalyptic tale (at one point there's a sign saying something about Jesus coming again) and how America's falling to pieces (I'm not real sure about that). I can't help but be appalled by the lingering shots of the completely nude dead girl in the middle of the field - this practice would be repeated in later films like The General's Daughter and The Pledge (I have to give Bruno Dumont props for giving one brief shot that tells it all) and mood-wise, it's all over the bloody place - the characters and tone ranges from solemn to overwrought (screaming, crying) to calm to downright campy, all in a matter of minutes (how else can you react to Dennis Hopper carrying around his "girlfriend," an inflatable doll?). Crispin Glover, great but from another movie, steals every scene as the guy most intent on protecting Roebuck's hide (Roebuck could care less if he lives or dies). Hopper, as one-legged biker Feck, is, as always, haunting.