The Riverman (2004)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

From my favorite movies..

A Brilliant Conflict

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

There are movies based on real life serial killers that are for entertainment only. This isn't one of them. I wouldn't even go as far as professing it's infotainment. The movie has a very documentary style feel to it with the only element missing being a narrator. It doesn't live off of big action and doesn't cater to the gore and torture porn fans either (like Bundy: An American Icon did for example) and luckily so. The essence of this movie is the interaction between Bob Keppel (Bruce Greenwood) and Ted Bundy (Cary Elwes). The chemistry between these two actors is simply incredible and both are playing their parts so convincingly that it took my breath away at times. Cary Elwes was quoted as saying that this role took a part of his soul away and I have no problem believing it. If you ever listened to Bundy's confession tapes (available on youtube) you know how easily he switched between joviality, bravado and a cold, psychopathic glee when talking about about his murderous deeds. Cary Elwes does such an authentic job switching back and forth between these sentiments that it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. His mimic is subtle, oftentimes even understated; his eyes do all the work. There's an underlying rage emanating from him during his conversations with Keppel that made me wonder if he had trouble switching back to his regular Mr. Joe guy self once the director called "Cut!" Likewise he chose the right tone of voice, the right pitch and pronunciation, that reminded a lot of Bundy himself in his interviews. After rewatching "Kiss The Girls" recently I was yet again reminded of how versatile this actor's voice is. As for Bruce Greenwood, his portrayal of Robert Keppel is equally on par as Elwes'. The struggle between being - or rather playing - a family man and "ordinary cop" and trying to delve deeply into both Bundy's as well as Gary "The Riverman" Ridgway's psyche are bone chilling. There's grief in his expression about the things Bundy confides in him, but as he tries to mentally connect, yes even "become," the Riverman in order to catch him he gets lost. He loses connection to himself, his wife and children, he slowly but steadily becomes obsessive-compulsive in his quest to uncover the truth. Although Sam Jaeger, who plays Detective Dave Reichert, has considerably little screen time his performance is equally strong as Bruce Greenwood's and Cary Elwes. Last but not least there is "The Riverman" himself, played by David Lawrence Brown. The last scene is based on one of the confession tapes of Ridgway's and he absolutely nails the killer's odd, choppy speech pattern (hinting at his low IQ of a mere 82) and his oddly blank face during his interrogations. If you are interested in understanding the machinations and motivations of serial killers, witty dialogues, psychological suspense, and Ted Bundy's case in particular, I guarantee that you will appreciate this movie greatly. A fair warning: It is haunting, literally haunting. It has stayed with me for weeks after first watching it, occupying my waking thoughts and dreams. Which is far more than I had expected of a "low budget TV movie."

It's 1982 Washington State. A woman's body is pulled from the Green River. Dave Reichert (Sam Jaeger) from the King County sheriff's department seeks the help of Ted Bundy (Cary Elwes) expert Robert Keppel (Bruce Greenwood). Keppel was a new detective as the Bundy case unfolded and was part of the Bundy task force. Bundy contacts Keppel and the duo goes to Florida to visit him in prison.This is part of the inspiration for The Silence of the Lambs. It's noticeable but it doesn't dwell on it. Bruce Greenwood holds this together. It's rather basic TV movie stylistically. Cary Elwes is a pretty looking killer. He has a different type of power. One wonders why a seemingly nice looking guy kills. He has a believable charm that can pull others in and that is his danger. I would love to had these two actors be directed by someone better in a cinematic theatrical release.

It seems that more and more we see and hear about people who act like Ted Bundy, who are serial killers and others who murder their wives and children. Bruce Greenwood,(Robert Keppel),"The Republic of Love",'03, gave an outstanding performance having to deal with Ted Bundy and making the audience even think at times that he was going to follow down the same path as BUNDY himself! Kathleen Quinlan,(Sande Keppel),"Blessings TV,"'03, was the wife of Robert Keppel who was going crazy with the effects that Ted Bundy was making on her husband's personality, as well as his children. This film is morbid and difficult to view, especially with the horrible torture of his victims and the needless waste of human LIFE!

First I must say that Cary Elwes did a very convincing portrayal of Ted Bundy. I thought he looked a lot like him and did a good acting job.This movie is for those who want to go deeply into the killer's mind and perhaps discover new things about Bundy and his childhood. (For instance in one part he tells the detective that as a child his mother threatened to send him to stay with his grandfather if he wasn't good and that he would try to be good but she would send him there anyway; then his grandfather would lock him in a closet). It also caused me to think about how much more useful it would be to keep people like him alive to analyze, study and try to understand what triggered his heinous psychology. This is a dark movie and not entertaining; not something I would watch for entertainment or fun in any sense. It was more like watching reenactments and felt sometimes more like watching a documentary than a movie.The film also goes into the psychology somewhat of a serial killer known as "The Green River Killer."I think of this as more of an educational film. Women for instance could watch it with an eye to learn tricks Bundy and the Green River Killer used to catch their prey (both seemed to like the trick of pretending to be disabled and in need of help for example). The film also highlights what it is like for those who interviewed Bundy hoping he could help them get into the mind of another killer they were trying to apprehend -- how dark and freaky it is. All around, as is its subject, the movie it pretty grisly. Definitely not a "date movie," haha.Some people are fascinated with learning more about serial killers and for those people this is probably a film they would like to see; but for most of us, I think we would rather be spared all the grisly details.Good acting all around and good cinematography, etc.; slow moving, graphic photos of murdered women I would rather not have seen. I personally would not recommend this movie to anyone other than those I mentioned above -- who like to study this sort of thing and are always hungry for more details. Lots of creepiness here!And please, mothers, fathers and others: don't lock the kid(s) up in the closet!! I gave this a 5 rating.