I wanted to like this one but didn't get much from it. It's essentially a 'wronged man' thriller in which a guy holidaying in Laos sees something he shouldn't and ends up accused of a crime he didn't commit. Essentially an arthouse drama that typically consists of a couple of actors conversing and not much else besides. No sense of empathy with the lead or suspense generated from the premise. The Laos scenery is nice but that's about it.
River
2015
Action / Thriller
Plot summary
A medical practitioner, volunteering in southeast Asia, tries to prevent a woman from being sexually assaulted. What happens as a result, makes him appear to the authorities as the instigator of a crime,, but afraid his story won't be believed, he tries to escape from the police.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Nice scenery
needs better setup
American volunteer doctor John Lake (Rossif Sutherland) works with Dr. Stephanie Novella (Sara Botsford) in a rural Laos medical clinic. He's on a holiday in the south when he comes upon a Australian tourist assaulting an unconscious local woman. He's drunk and things spiral out of control.
This needs a bit more setup on why he would be so afraid of the local police. He's running right from the start and that needs some explaining. I'm willing to buy it to some extent but it would help to give him more reasons to run. He's overdoing the jitteriness. He's running without a plan. He's running without a reason sometimes. He's not running from the American government which was my greatest hope for an explanation. Even if he gets back to the US, he'll be extradited back to Laos or Australia under the political pressure. I don't think he's doing rational things unless the movie explains itself better. I do like the exotic locations and I also like the redemptive ending although it's a little too late.
TONS OF SUSPENSE.
Good movie, and tons of suspense! Edge of your seat movie, but the ending could've been better. The kind of story I like focusing on getting the audience into figuring out and putting themselves in the shoes of the actor rather then an overuse of dialog and backstory mixed with hollywood situations.