Turn the River
Encyclopedia
Turn the River is a film that was written and directed by Chris Eigeman
. The film debuted at the Hamptons International Film Festival
on October 17, 2007.
Kailey learns that her son Gully, is receiving abuse from his father and is being bullied in school. She decides that the best thing for her and her child would be to leave the country and start a new life in Canada. She puts a plan into motion to organise fake passports and papers which require that she raise a fair share of money. Kailey starts off by using her exceptional skills at pool to win small bets. After a nasty encounter with a player unhappy at losing, Kailey reveals to her friend Teddy Quinette, that she met her ex-husband David while she was running an illegal card game room. David left his studies in a seminary to marry a then pregnant Kailey. David's mother, staunchly religious and unhappy at this turn of events, reported Kailey's illegal activities and then struck a deal with her to make her life easier in return for Kailey getting a divorce and giving away custody of Gully. With Teddy's help Kailey begins to organise high stakes games against skilled players at the pool bar Teddy owns. Kailey eventually collects enough money together and prepares to flee with her son in tow. On the morning of departure she drops by David's house to speak to him for the first time in eleven years. She tells him that she is leaving with Gully and that he will be better off with her. Kailey then handcuffs David inside the house with the aid of a replica handgun. David's wife returns to find him and they call the police.
After driving to the Canadian border Kailey and Gully have only to catch an early morning bus over the border. The police manage to track them down before they can leave and Kailey is shot by police who believed her to be reaching for a firearm in her bag. It is left to the viewer to decide if she died or not. The movie ends with a flashback of Gully walking to Quinette's pool bar for the first time to receive a post card from his mother.
reported that 67% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 18 reviews.
Janssen was awarded a Special Jury Best Actress Prize for her work in the film "for a brave and touching portrayal of a woman fighting for her child and her life."
Chris Eigeman
Chris Eigeman is an American actor best known for roles in the Whit Stillman films Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco....
. The film debuted at the Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...
on October 17, 2007.
Cast
- Famke JanssenFamke JanssenFamke Beumer Janssen is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series .- Early life and education :...
as Kailey Sullivan - Jaymie Dornan as Gulley
- Rip TornRip TornElmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...
as Teddy Quinette - Matt RossMatt RossMatthew Brandon "Matt" Ross is an American actor best known for his role as Alby Grant in the HBO series, Big Love.-Filmography:*Urusei Yatsura 2 *Desperation Rising *PCU...
as David - Lois SmithLois SmithLois Smith is an American actress whose career in theater, film, and television has spanned five decades.Smith was born Lois Arlene Humbert in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Carrie Davis and William Oren Humbert, who was a telephone company employee...
as Abigail - Marin HinkleMarin HinkleMarin Elizabeth Hinkle is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing the role of Judith Harper-Melnick, Alan Harper's ex-wife on the hit series Two and a Half Men and her role as Judy Brooks the sister of the series lead Lily Manning on Once and Again.-Career:Hinkle started her career on...
as Ellen - Terry KinneyTerry KinneyTerry Kinney is an American actor and theatre director, and is a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with Gary Sinise and Jeff Perry.-Early life:...
as Markus - Jordan BridgesJordan Bridges-Early life:Bridges was born in California, and is the son of actor Beau Bridges and wife Julie Landfield. He is the nephew of Jeff Bridges and grandson of Lloyd Bridges and Dorothy Bridges.-Career:...
as Brad - Ari GraynorAri GraynorAriel Geltman Graynor, better known as Ari Graynor, is an American actress.-Life and career:Graynor was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was raised in a Jewish family and attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols, a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Trinity College, in Hartford,...
as Charlotte - John Juback as Duncan
- Tony Robles as Ralphie
- Santo D'Asaro as Scott
- Zoe Lister Jones as Kat
- Elizabeth Atkeson as Sally
- Joseph SiravoJoseph SiravoJoseph Siravo is an Italian american actor and graduate of both Stanford and NYU. Among his most notable roles is that of "Johnny Boy" Soprano, father of Tony Soprano, on The Sopranos. He is credited as the voice of Carmine in the Disney film The Wild...
as Warren
Plot
Turn the River stars Famke Janssen as Kailey Sullivan, a woman rough around the edges and schooled in hard knocks. Divorced from her son's father and without visitation rights, she and her son write letters to each other and meet surreptitiously.Kailey learns that her son Gully, is receiving abuse from his father and is being bullied in school. She decides that the best thing for her and her child would be to leave the country and start a new life in Canada. She puts a plan into motion to organise fake passports and papers which require that she raise a fair share of money. Kailey starts off by using her exceptional skills at pool to win small bets. After a nasty encounter with a player unhappy at losing, Kailey reveals to her friend Teddy Quinette, that she met her ex-husband David while she was running an illegal card game room. David left his studies in a seminary to marry a then pregnant Kailey. David's mother, staunchly religious and unhappy at this turn of events, reported Kailey's illegal activities and then struck a deal with her to make her life easier in return for Kailey getting a divorce and giving away custody of Gully. With Teddy's help Kailey begins to organise high stakes games against skilled players at the pool bar Teddy owns. Kailey eventually collects enough money together and prepares to flee with her son in tow. On the morning of departure she drops by David's house to speak to him for the first time in eleven years. She tells him that she is leaving with Gully and that he will be better off with her. Kailey then handcuffs David inside the house with the aid of a replica handgun. David's wife returns to find him and they call the police.
After driving to the Canadian border Kailey and Gully have only to catch an early morning bus over the border. The police manage to track them down before they can leave and Kailey is shot by police who believed her to be reaching for a firearm in her bag. It is left to the viewer to decide if she died or not. The movie ends with a flashback of Gully walking to Quinette's pool bar for the first time to receive a post card from his mother.
Themes
Entertainment website, Variety, offered the following analysis:-
In casting a woman in a traditionally male role, Eigeman subtly shifts both genre and gender. His heroine adopts the iconography of the hustler movie, but feminizes it: The image of a woman camping out on a pool table reads less as rugged than vulnerable. When Kailey gets beaten up, it's not for being a hustler but for being a woman, as male rage explodes on the barest pretext.
Critical reception
As of April 11, 2009, the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 67% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 18 reviews.
Awards
Eigeman won the Zicherman Family Foundation Award For Best Screenwriter "for its unflinching realism, pitch perfect dialogue and three-dimensional characters in a world that is so often given to stereotypes."Janssen was awarded a Special Jury Best Actress Prize for her work in the film "for a brave and touching portrayal of a woman fighting for her child and her life."