The Riverman (2004)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Overrated and overhyped

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

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.

I had just bought the book, The Riverman, in Ketchikan, Alaska. I was on vacation and I bought it at a drugstore. It is perhaps one of the best books ever written about Bundy. Keppel does not leave anything out regarding Bundy or Ridgway in the book but the film version is conduced to keeping the important facts and information. Those pictures of Bundy's murder victims are real authentic. What other films about Bundy fail to express is what he did with the bodies of his murdered victims afterwards. In order to catch the Green River Killer, he had to befriend Ted Bundy, played admirably by Cary Elwes. He does such an excellent job that it's frightening and often chilling. Cary Elwes is the best Bundy I have ever seen in television movies. He even brings out a sympathetic side to his human monster never before. No, this movie is not for children or squeamish adults. If the viewers watch without much information, they may not be able to grasp the horror of both the Green River and Bundy's legacies. But watch how Bundy uses his knowledge to try to solve one of the world's biggest mysteries. While Bundy did not live long enough to see the Riverman's capture, he died a complete coward and confessed to all his crimes with hopes of saving his own life.

This was decent, though not all that great. I thought some of the acting was good, by Greenwood and Elwes. The cinematography was well done. Conceptually the story was decent, but not all that intense. You learn some new things about Bundy, if you're interested in the serial killer (which seems to be primarily an American phenomenon).I thought the story was a bit disjointed though. You go from the introduction of the kilings, to Greenwood, the ex-detective/ cop, to Bundy; but there's this Green River Killer, whom, to me, was sort of left in the background, with Bundy apparently attempting to assist in the investigation.I thought the story was more telling of how many additional people Bundy killed, or what his thoughts and background was, rather than concentrating on the Green River Killer. Yes, they reveal, briefly, in the end, who The Green River Killer is, and how many he killed, etc., but it didn't do all that much for me. I thought there'd be some real connection there other than people or serial killers and 'going inside the mind of a killer'.I'd almost have rather they left the entire Bundy thing out of it, or at least not concentrated on it so much. It's an interesting point of view, but I believe they relied too heavily on it. I'd have rather seen more about the actual serial killer and his story, perhaps with an additional half hour of material (but this is a TV movie, hard to do with all those commercials). I'm fascinated by serial killers in general, not sure why exactly. Just find the American thing interesting (not that they don't exist elsewhere, but the fact that our media covers them so widely, it's like they become movie-stars, and famous for 15 minutes, just as Warhol predicted; how our pop society seems to want fame over anything else). I find that sickening personally. Therein I guess lies the fascination, odd as it may seem. I only partially enjoyed this film. Some good talent, reasonably well done, but a bit lacking in intensity I think. I didn't really feel all that creeped out by it, as others may have suggested. Intriguing but not intense. I gave it a 5/10. Almost deserves a 6/10, which seems to be the average so far.

I didn't know what to expect when I began watching this movie. I was immediately intrigued once it began going, however. This is the true story of how Ted Bundy (Cary Elwes) actually helped to find the Green River Killer back in the early 80's in his attempts to get a lighter sentence and avoid the death penalty. Although this movie is not about Ted Bundy it does go into his crimes a little bit and you get to know a little bit more about Bundy's twisted psyche. The performances were great, but the one that stands out is Elwes portrayal of the serial killer Ted Bundy. I didn't know if he could pull it off, but he did an excellent job and was very believable and his performance was chilling. I give this movie a 9/10.