Jimmy Reardon

River must have been asleep when he read this script. A young actor known for choosing meaty, meaningful roles, in this instance, he must have been going for cheap publicity. Well, I don't think he made many fans with this one. I'm not even sure what movie this compares to. It went on too long and was hardly worth watching. On a personal note. I will always miss River. He was the best young actor of his generation. And the business of movie making has not been the same without him. He could have reached the top. Goodbye again, young friend.

I only tuned into this film to see Ione Skye. Denise (Ione Skye) and Jimmy (River Phoenix) had an interesting thing going on. Outside of her, I am really not sure what was going on.

Jimmy seemed to be trying to find his own way and not follow what others wanted him to do. Sort of a slacker, he was in constant turmoil with his father until they managed to find something in common to bind them together. :-) He totally screwed things up with his girlfriend, but one suspects that he might have decided to try again as the movie ends. Who Knows?

I really was hoping for a film that would give me an idea of what River was like as an actor. This wasn't it. It really didn't have much going for it except Ione.

I watched this movie when I was younger and enjoyed it, now....it just seems boring. There are no likable characters, the script does a poor job of even letting you get to know anyone but jimmy. It isn't funny, not at all so I'm not sure why it is classified as a comedy. Honestly jimmy just doesn't have that much happen to him, other than lots of sex. Watching this now it just falls flat. There is no lesson learned, no great friendships explored, no amazing love story here. Jimmy doesn't seem to really care about anyone but himself. You get the idea ( due to the narration), that jimmy does indeed become a writer...but that's not explored either. His writing is actually just a side note in the story . It's almost as if somewhere in there a good story existed, but they don't finish telling it or something. It's really just a movie about a selfish person, surrounded by selfish people...who is really nave about life and has no clue what he wants to do, other than girls of course. This movie s devoid of purpose and fairly vapid.

"A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon" is a grinless Coming Of Age film which has been mis-packaged as a comedy. It almost seems as if half the film was in the can before someone on high decided to change the genre... either that or Richert forgot to film a lot of scenes.

River Phoenix is said to have been ashamed of his part in the film, but he is actually not bad, considering the material he had to rise above. Reardon gives us a Phoenix who has not yet become hard-eyed, 'though the character he played was nearly graceless. River still had fuzz on his chin and boyish charm. This was a young man on the cusp of greatness.

The adult actors in this film were dreadful and the other young actors were uneven. I hardly recognized Mathew Perry. Talk about a baby face!

Watching Reardon is like watching kids try to play grownup. The script was originally written for older actors and would have been better if older actors were used. Those used seemed hardly past puberty, and had no idea how to play "sexually jaded" at all.

Overall, I prefer Reardon to "Dogfight" as a River Phoenix vehicle and a comparison of the box-office take shows many others did too.

See it if only to see a still innocent River Phoenix playing a young man far removed from himself.

I was only 17. I was expecting a John Hughes film. if this had been an "indie" movie it would have done better, but the movie was Advertised to america like a regular (ie. happy) movie. it does have some spotty acting, slow parts, etc. but the big problem is the only thing I got from the movie (no pleasure, no pay off, no catharsis was):

Jimmy has no heart of gold, he is dross. and the film is good at depicting the story of a man who realizes he will be a cheatin', no good jerk like his father, and that he really does not care. he seems at one with his shallowness. I don't think most teens could accept the idea that they are not good, not bad, just blah with such grace. a real human would not just shrug and accept his loserness..when he seemed to have a glimmer of more. It takes longer for life to beat you down at that.

I walked out of the movie theater at the age of 17 thinking "THIS SUCKED compared to FERRIS BUELLER" and I was right. 15 years later, I am still right.