The White River Kid

I loved this film. A nice - weird story, great acting, absurd situations, craziness in very rich forms , irony against cliches , Wes Bentley and admirable Bob Hoskins, flavours of South and a lot of ingenuity. Short, just great.

Startz finally released this turkey on American television tonight. This film is a waste of good talented actors. Bob Hoskins seems lost in the film as a fake monk. In fact, I could not believe that in one scene he was dancing what is called the Texas Dance in his monk robes in an Arkansas dance hall.

The movie is a series of road vinettes that really don't make much sense. I wonder if these actors got paid for the roles. Antonio Banderos was listed as the producer. What got into him. Swoosie Kurtz a good actress was awful in her Presley hair do. No wonder this did not get a theater release.

"The White River Kid" just came out on video in Bulgaria. It's usually a warning sign when an American movie is released on video in Bulgaria before its theatrical release in the USA. This movie is no exception to that rule, and the embarrassed actors are probably hoping that the movie never makes it back to its country of origin.

I'm not sure what the movie was about. Basically, it requires a group of somewhat talented actors to play ridiculous, one-dimensional stereotypes and interact with each other. A fake priest, a serial killer, a diner waitress, a money-grubbing wetback, a family of hillbillies, a country-singin' local sheriff, and so on. I should mention that a female hillbilly wears an enormous Elvis wig and claims to pray to Elvis. And a couple of "Deliverance" extras are eaten by a herd of killer pigs. I'm not making this up.

I think the filmmakers were shooting for "wacky", or "madcap", or "screwball"...instead, they didn't achieve anything more than "embarrassing for all involved".

The White River Kid is an enjoyable movie. It is not an edge of the seat or nail biter, but the story is engaging. Bob Hoskins as Brother Edgar draws you into the story and as he begins to be interested in the other members of this story so do you. Antonio Bandaras brings a certain charm and sympathy to a character with less admirable ambitions. I would comment on each actors role but instead I will say that each one took hold of the character they played and caused you to see each one in an interesting way. I was particularly fond of Miss Eva Nell (Ellen Barkin) and Randy Travis as Sheriff Becker. All in all I really liked this movie.

As a dyed in the wool Southerner bred in Arkansas, I am happy to see that someone has finally made a movie that portrays Arkansas like it is. Arne Glimcher has done a fine job capturing all of the nuances of Southern culture, and Bob Hoskins--whom has always been a terrific and often underrated actor in my eyes--does a great job adopting a believable Arkansas accent despite his thick British accent. In fact, I think Bob somehow managed to come up with an accent that transcends both cultures, and is uncannily unrecognizable as belonging to either. Mike Thomas, in particular, does a great supporting turn. The only thing this movie was missing is a buck-toothed banjo player and Tia Carrere, but I guess maybe Elie was divorced from her by the time it was made. (Okay, actually, we all know this movie is really just not that good, and if any of you want to explain how this happened--because I really am curious--please e/m me here in Los Angeles.)