River

In response to correct other reviews, in the train station you are likely to see many Thai Buddhist monks as the train is an economical way to travel. They are not Tibetan Monks as one review stated and he spends most the movie trying to get away from the Laos police, not Thai.

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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Set mostly in Laos, this movie maintains a decent amount of tension and suspense, but some of its plot elements really defy logic. Don't expect any character development here, as the film is nearly exclusively an "on the lam" type flick.

Rossif Sutherland (son of Donald) stars as Dr. John Lake, who's working at a NGO clinic in Vientiane, Laos. After disobeying the orders of the chief physician (Sara Botsford) in the operating room (containing some very graphic and bloody scenes), he's asked to take some time off to clear his mind.

Traveling to southern Laos, John ends up in a physical altercation with an Australian man, (the son of an Australian Senator), whereby the Australian man is killed. While being questioned by the Laotian police, John panics and flees,and the remainder of the movie will focus on his attempts to escape capture, all leading to an ending that, in my opinion, really stretched credibility.

All in all, this movie, written and directed by first time Canadian filmmaker Jamie M. Dagg, maintained enough suspense to keep me interested to the end, as I wondered how it would all turn out. However, as mentioned there is no character development and some of the plot machinations were just too nonsensical for me to swallow.

"River" is a Laotian film about John Lake, an American doctor working in Laos, who intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman by an Australian tourist. His efforts of intervening lead to him killing the Australian tourist, being mistakenly accused of sexually assaulting the woman, and having him being a wanted fugitive. The film is directed by first time Canadian director Jamie M. Dagg, who does one hell of a job with this film.

The film takes its time to develop the character of John and then throws him in this crazy situation that he mistakenly got himself into. I felt so empathetic towards John because he wanted to do the right thing, and by doing so he accidentally kills a guy and is falsely accused of assaulting a woman. The story is very simple and has been done in many other films before but what makes "River" standout is its realism and Rossif Sutherland's performance as John. Sutherland brings so much energy to this role and does an excellent job being a frantic, scared, and innocent person.

As the film continues and John is on the run you later find out who the Australian tourist is related to which adds a new level of extremity to the situation. There's not a lot to say about the film story wise, you have a man on the run and doing what he can to not get arrested for false causes. The performances are great, the direction is great, and the cinematography is overall very well.

A couple issues I had with the film is that during some scenes when John is being chased or running the camera is very shaky. And at the last ten or so minutes of the film something is revealed about the situation John's in which causes our character to make an action that didn't sit too well with me.

Overall "River" is a wonderful directorial debut for Jamie Dagg, which displays great performances from Rossif Sutherland, and all of the cast as well. I'm looking forward to what this talented young man will do next.