Suspicious River

Starring:Molly Parker, Callum Keith Rennie, Mary Kate Welsh, Joel Bissonnette, Deanna Milligan, Sarah-Jane Redmond, Norman Armour, Byron Lucas, Michael Shanks, Paul Jarrett, Don S. Davis, Jay Brazeau, Bruno Verdoni, Ingrid Tesch, John R. Taylor, Gillian Barber, Bill Dow, Jenn Griffin, Dean Wray, Sean Campbell
Director: Lynne Stopkewich
Studio: Tartan Video
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-06-26

This is a subject that isn't usually touched upon in film. The B movie feel reflects the dreary depseration of the life of the main character.

Parker plays Leila, a woman so bored and disillusioned with life that she actively seeks out abuse from stragers. She begins taking money from men for sex, not for the money, but for the degredation. Leila seems determined to make her life as dark and frightening as she can. Her childhood has traumatized her to the point of emotional numbness.

Rennie plays Gary Jenson, initially one of Leila's customers who eventually becomes her "boyfriend" and only reveals his true motivations at the end of the film. He manipulates Leila with alternating violence and empty promises. Leila seems to crave the violent lifestyle Gary is offering.

The acting is amazing. Rennie and Parker both give perfect performances. A lot of the story is told through facial expressions instead of dialog which Rennie and Parker both pull off superbly. Suspicious River is a dark glimpse into a frightening and dangerous, yet mysteriously seductive world.

Tries to Capture the Feeling "Kissed" Had...Fails Miserably.......2006-11-06

Reuniting with her "Kissed" director Lynne Stopkewich, actress Molly Parker ('Deadwood') stars in "Suspicious River" a film that attempts to catch the same atmosphere and creepiness that Kissed had. First of all, "Kissed" was a film about a female necrophiliac played by Parker. The movie was well made, didn't sensationalize it's subject, and stayed with me for days. Suspicious River is different. It looks cheap, it's about a subject and then takes an unnecessary and nonsensical turn in the last act, and I'll forget about it in days. That's not to say it doesn't have it's good parts though. Parker plays Leila Murray, a married woman who works at a motel. At the motel she begins selling sex to various people who come in. It's meaningless for her, she seems completely detached in the scenes where she has sex. When the film switches over to her private life with her husband (something it doesn't do often, to a point where the husband character seems like a mere puppet), she seems detached from him as well. She kind of just seems detached from the entire world; This is, technically, explained at the end of the film via flashback...But it doesn't seem realistic. The character should seem detached during these acts of sex, but should at least seem human when around her husband. Anyway, Leila eventually meets (and greets) a man named Gary Jensen (Callum Keith Rennie), who's also married. The first time she services him, he beats her...This should be clue number 1 to get out. Eventually, the less-abusive Gary and Leila fall in love and plan to run away together. All these events unfold while we are submitted to random flashbacks that all come together at the end. Another problem with the film. Had it just been the flashbacks, that would've been O.K. Not stellar or anything, just O.K. But they also had to throw in scenes with Parker picking up her younger self. What was the point? Truth is, this movie has no point. That doesn't mean it didn't have its moments where I enjoyed it, but it's not a film the clicked with me. The scene at the end where Parker narrates (something that she didn't earlier in the film) seems to pay homage to Kissed. That film also ended with a narration by Parker, but that one was haunting and poignant. This one seems to say "I've been trying to work in a metaphor the entire running time and now I have it. Since you, the audience, won't notice it...I'm going to spell it out for in an abstract way."

GRADE: C

A great film about a tough subject.......2006-07-11

This movie by Lynne Stopkewich (whose controversial first film was Kissed) shows off her depth as a director. This film deals with the story of a young woman trapped in a small town repeating the self destructive patterns she learned from her mother as well as not appreciating what you've got until you potentially lose it..... Molly Parker shines as the lead and the secondary characters are good enough, just overlook the low budget feel to this movie to enjoy the compelling storytelling. The film was based on a book of the same title by Laura Kasischke and this movie made me want to go out and buy the book. I highly recommend Suspicious River to those who enjoy gritty independent films.

SHOWS PROMISE--BUT BEWARE OF SWANS BEARING SYMBOLISM.......2006-05-01

Director Lynne Stopkewich has dealt with a very important topic here: the low self-esteem some women suffer from AND the cruel ways that some men take terrible advantage of such women.

The two lead actors--Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie--are excellent in their roles as the abused woman, Leila Murray, and the abuser, Gary Jensen. The rest of the cast manages to be adequate. (By an eerily odd coincidence, two of the minor cast members--Don S. Davis as Golf Shirt Man, and Michael Shanks as Ball Cap Man--both went on to star in the TV series "Stargate SG-1.")

Two main problems with this low-budget effort are the production values and the script. Technically, this often looks like a class project for an undergrad course in film making, with the lighting and color being major difficulties. The script is uneven, too, with its heavy-handed parallel subplot and its "happy ending" that is too rushed, sketchy, and implausible. As for the symbolic swans that hang out in the river, they may be just what YOU like, but to me they seemed like one more pretentiously artsy thing that a teacher in Screenplays 101 should have advised the writer(s) to cut out.

If you like Molly Parker, watch her in Stopkewich's KISSED and in the HBO-TV series "Deadwood." Both are better vehicles for her talents.

"So many bad men, and so little time!".......2006-02-22

This film is very depressing and disturbing sexually. It's so nasty the kind of things that Leila(Molly Parker) had to go through. Her character is so discontended, and traumatized sexually, emotionally, and physically. It's a truly a star showcase vehicle for Molly, because she gets to display a great deal of dark and painful emotions. Callum Keith Rennie is very good as the deceiving and malicious boyfriend who gets off by manipulating Leila for sex, money, and betrayal to her husband. It seems that Parker has developed a fondness for dark and sexually disturbing films, examples like Centre of the World and Marion Bridge.

Average customer rating:

Amazing
Tries to Capture the Feeling "Kissed" Had...Fails Miserably
A great film about a tough subject
SHOWS PROMISE--BUT BEWARE OF SWANS BEARING SYMBOLISM
"So many bad men, and so little time!"

Suspicious River
Starring: Molly Parker , Callum Keith Rennie , Mary Kate Welsh , Joel Bissonnette , and Deanna Milligan
Director: Lynne Stopkewich
Manufacturer: Tartan Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Kissed
The Center of the World
Last Wedding
Battle In Heaven
Lie With Me

ASIN: B0002YLCWY
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Description

Controversial and daring film from Lynne Stopkewich (Kissed) focuses on a young, married woman, working as desk clerk, who seduces the faceless men that pass through her stifling world. Stars Molly Parker.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-06-26

Tries to Capture the Feeling "Kissed" Had...Fails Miserably.......2006-11-06

A great film about a tough subject.......2006-07-11

SHOWS PROMISE--BUT BEWARE OF SWANS BEARING SYMBOLISM.......2006-05-01

"So many bad men, and so little time!".......2006-02-22

Average customer rating:

Amazing
Tries to Capture the Feeling "Kissed" Had...Fails Miserably
A great film about a tough subject
SHOWS PROMISE--BUT BEWARE OF SWANS BEARING SYMBOLISM
"So many bad men, and so little time!"

Suspicious River
Starring: Molly Parker , Callum Keith Rennie , Mary Kate Welsh , Joel Bissonnette , and Deanna Milligan
Director: Lynne Stopkewich
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Kissed
The Center of the World
Last Wedding
Battle In Heaven
Lie With Me

ASIN: B0000D9Y4X

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2007-06-26

Tries to Capture the Feeling "Kissed" Had...Fails Miserably.......2006-11-06

A great film about a tough subject.......2006-07-11

SHOWS PROMISE--BUT BEWARE OF SWANS BEARING SYMBOLISM.......2006-05-01

"So many bad men, and so little time!".......2006-02-22

Suspicious River [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ]

Average customer rating:

Suspicious River [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ]
Director: Lynne Stopkewich
Manufacturer: Films Sans Frontiers
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

France released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), French (Subtitles), WIDESCREEN, SYNOPSIS: Leila Murray is a young, married receptionist at a small town motel who is selling her body, secretly to buy something she desperately needs but dreads being given. One October night she meets a man named Gary Jensen, a dark soulmate who leads Leila into deeper water where the past lives and the future dies. For Leila is exercising a darker truth, reliving the passion of her murdered mother, uncertain whether she will survive Suspicious River or indeed, if she even wants to.

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