River

A North American doctor working in Laos accidentally kills an Australian man who has just raped a local woman. He then flees the authorities, while the situation is made worse for him by the revelation that the man he killed is a senator's son.

This independent Canadian/Laos co-production is a chase thriller that stars Donald Sutherland's son Rossif Sutherland. He is in every scene and is pretty good in it, conveying the worrying scenario his character finds himself in convincingly. The story itself is quite spare with no wastage whatsoever. It moves at a very good pace, which I suppose you would expect from a chase film and it does build up some decent suspense at times. What takes it up to another level though is the setting. Not too many films are set in Laos and the exotic locales make for a very pleasing backdrop to events. Aside from this there is perhaps nothing particularly out of the ordinary in this one but it still works very well and is overall a well-executed, lean thriller.

Despite a lot of shaky camera work, the moral of the story is: Miscarriage of justice, if you are 'well connected', the powers that be will always win! Give it a watch!

"Your face. What happened? I was very drunk last night. I was riding a bicycle, and I fell."

Can you imagine this. One moment you're standing in an operating room amputating someones leg with a saw. The other moment you're running like a madman through Laos trying to outrun the authorities. This happens to John Lake (Rossif Sutherland), a hard-working doctor, who's sent on a well-deserved holiday after a discussion with the head doctor. At his destination (It surely isn't a five star all-inclusive resort) he's having a few drinks one evening, accompanied by an over friendly bartender. On his way to his humble hut he witnesses an assault on a local girl by a drunken, noisy Australian. And in a split second he makes the wrong decision. Before he knows it, he is a fugitive who's wanted for murdering the son of an Australian Senator and raping a native girl.

The result is an intense manhunt for the guilty western doctor by the local police. And he's guilty. That's a fact. The only thing John has in mind, is not to go on trial in Laos itself. "River" is a film in which desperation, fear and guilt are palpable presence. John, sweaty, bloodied and bruised, is constantly on the run. A boat ride with a local resident. A lift from a couple dodgy looking men. A bus trip which happens to be controlled by a police patrol. It doesn't matter in what way he travels, as long as he stays out of the hands of the authorities and manages to reach a US Embassy. He even has to make a certain decision in the end, that goes against his moral principles. The result of this nerve-racking race, is that the film never pauses for a moment. The pace is blistering (probably appropriate for the climate there) fast and exhilarating.

Rossif Sutherland (son of Donald and brother of Keifer Sutherland) acts convincingly. You can see the desperation and fear on his face. A chaotic flight where he relies entirely on his survival instinct. The intensity is unbearable and because of the sultry environment it's as if you can smell John's pungent body odor in your living room. Although the story is fairly straightforward and obvious, the ending is still surprising. Let me put it this way. It has a high "Oh come on" content. A bit against the flow compared to the rest of the movie. I guess the sense for justice presented itself to John suddenly. It's probably a personal trait. John can't resist to do good for others over and over again.

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I found this movie fairly enjoyable as I went into it with fairly low expectations from what I read on IMDb. The movie does a pretty good job of building suspense through a series of unfortunate events that seem plausible. I found the main actor to be pretty decent and likable, which is important because he's in 90% of the movie. The supporting characters aren't given much film time but that's OK given the nature of the film.

A big bonus of the film for me was getting to see the exotic locations of Laos. I like films that can take me to another part of the world and immerse me in the culture of that area. This movie did a great job of that as it really made me feel like a foreigner.

The ending is a bit anti-climatic but for the most part, the movie kept me interested up until the end.

I enjoyed this film, I think the panic and suspense was heightened throughout and I generally thought It was well acted out, I didn't know who the lead was until I looked him up after the film so my review has no bias, a good film. Not quite the fugative but elements are definitely inspired by it.