''The River Murders'' is a 2011 American

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by Rich Cowan and starring

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also ap ...

, and

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

Plot

Detective Jack Verdon is investigating a series of brutal murders when he realizes that each victim is a woman with whom he has slept or had a relationship with in the past. Verdon is taken off the case by

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Agent Vukovitch and suspended by his Captain. Verdon is forced to work outside the law and confront his past to catch the killer, who has been extracting details of Verdon's other lovers – and subsequent victims – from each victim. The killer is revealed to be John, the son Jack never knew was born from his first girlfriend, Rebecca. When she discovered she was pregnant Jack convinced her to have an abortion. However, she never did. John kidnaps Jack's wife, but cannot bring himself to take her life when he discovers that she is pregnant. He convinces Jack that he did kill her, causing Jack to kill him.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in the fall of 2010 in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

Release

''The River Murders'' premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and had a limited release in September 2011.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...

released it on DVD on September 20, 2011.

Reception

Paul Bradshaw of ''

Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched i ...

'' rated it 2/5 stars and called it a low point for the careers of the stars. Rohit Rao of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 1.5/5 stars and called it a "drab and generic serial killer thriller". Paul Pritchard of

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

wrote, "As a TV movie, ''The River Murders'' would be passable, but expecting people to spend money on it is asking too much."

References

External links

* * 2011 films 2010s police films 2010s psychological drama films 2010s serial killer films 2010s mystery drama films Adultery in films American crime drama films American police detective films American psychological drama films American serial killer films Films scored by Pinar Toprak Films shot in Washington (state) Matricide in fiction Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation 2011 crime drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{crime-drama-film-stub