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24 out of 30 people found the following review useful: Good character study with a bit of a Rounders feel to it, 20 June 2008 Author: intelearts from the big screen
Nice character study of a female pool player whose life is going in smaller and smaller circles and simply wants out, but knows no way to get out.Excellent performances from Famke Janssen who brings a real underplayed performance, and particularly Rip Torn, who I normally tolerate - as it always seems to be a variation of the MIB character - here he plays the pool hall owner and gives a very good performance indeed - nicely underplayed.The plot of pool player trying to find meaning in her life with her estranged son is good - but the film is at its best when it's playing pool - just wish there had been more and more of that - very nice. The hustling is never glamorized and feels authentic and kind of grubby.All in all a nice small indie movie that delivers a satisfying character study of the type normally given to guys - and for that alone it is notable.For first time director Chris Eigeman whose previous acting credits are more in the romantic comedy line or TV shows - this ain't bad at all...
A different type of "family" drama, I like it., 13 December 2008 Author: TxMike from Houston, Tx, USA, Earth
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
In this movie Famke Janssen as Kailey Sullivan is far from her Jean Grey role in "X-Men." Here she is a rough-looking woman who is good at card and great at billiards, better known in the city as "pool." When we first see her in the city, meeting her 10-year-old son on a park bench as he walked to private school, we wonder what might have happened that she has to be sneaky that way.When we get to know Jaymie Dornan as her son Gulley, and see how his own dynamics at home work, we get a glimpse that there is something very wrong in his relationship with his dad who it turns out is a seminary drop out and still seemingly under the control of his religious mother.The other interesting character is Temple, Texas native Rip Torn as Teddy Quinette. He owns a pool hall in the city and we learn early that he is the "go-between" that allows Gulley and Kailey to communicate. She mails letters to her son and he drops by the pool hall to pick them up. But mom orders, read them and destroy them, don't keep any around.As the complete back story unfolds Kailey and Gulley's dad messed around and she got pregnant, but also got into some trouble and the grandma arranged that she would not have a record if she would give up the baby, divorce the dad, and agree to never have any contact with her son.If you are looking for a story with an ending where everyone comes out happy, this one will not do it for you. But if you want to see a gritty movie about the difficulty of split up families, this is a good one.SPOILERS: Kailey figures out that not only is Gully generally unhappy with his dad and step-mom, he is also being mistreated at times. So she resolves to kidnap her son and bring him to a place where they can start a new life. She chooses Canada. But she needs quite a large sum of money to get fake passports made, and she gets that through hustling at the pool hall. In an unfortunate turn of circumstances for Kailey she and Gulley are intercepted by authorities as they await a bus to Canada and, when a fake gun falls out of her dropped purse, and she goes to retrieve it, an agent shoots her. They never get to Canada, as she dies at the wheel of the truck she was trying to drive off in.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Beware of a desperate woman., 8 September 2008 Author: Michael O'Keefe from Muskogee OK
Not exactly THE COLOR OF MONEY, or even a better than mediocre movie. The story line suffers from melancholia and lack of star power. Kailey Sullivan(Famke Janssen)is a desperate small town pool hustler. She barely gets by with poker earnings and what she can earn by picking up a pool match or two. Her mentor Teddy Quinette(Rip Torn)runs a pool hall in Manhattan called Quinns. He knows that Kailey needs money to get her son Gulley(Jaymie Dorman)away from her ex-husband(Matt Ross). "Quinn" sets up a high stakes match so Kailey can hustle enough money to sweep her son off to Canada and a brighter future. The finale is not as predictable as the rest of the movie. The title TURN THE RIVER makes little sense to me; maybe I just wasn't in the right mood to watch this. Others in the cast: Marin Hinkle, John Juback, Lois Smith and Terry Kinney. I really do like Janssen, but she was just not enough to carry this flick.
2 out of 8 people found the following review useful: pool on the hill, 8 September 2008 Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA
I will say that Chris Eigeman's "Turn the River" constitutes a worthy character study, but I did find it a little slow. Famke Janssen plays Kailey Sullivan, a woman with some problems in life. However, she does have one noble aim: rescuing her son (Jaymie Dornan) from his abusive father. From here, much of the movie centers on Kailey's playing pool and how it works into her plan.Like I said, this movie works best as a character study, as I found it a little slow. One thing that I wondered while watching it is how they film people playing pool. You can't tell where the balls will go when people hit them, so do the people behind the camera just film the scene over and over again until the balls go the right way? Anyway, OK seeing maybe once. Also starring Rip Torn.
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