Dorathen
Better Late Then Never
Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
M MALIK
we all know what a great actress Famke Janssen is i became a fan when i saw her in Goldeneye 1995 & later in X-Men she did a lot of films before this and after this that are very good to watch but this project is straight dull.this film is not about a swimming pool its about pool the famous game but more then that pool plays a small part this more about character study then story itself for those expecting some Jason Statham type action stuff will be disappointed as it is very slow & mainly dialog oriented.the plot:Kailey is a pool player who makes a plan to participates in pool tournaments just to make more money & use fake documents to travel to Canada with her son who lives his father but will this plan work.this is something is something i should also mention why Kailey is trying to kidnap her own son well its simple the father Kailey's ex husband is aggressive towards the son,she lover her son like all mothers but she also makes a mistake and gave up her own son when he was born and now when he is grown up a bit she wants him back but why would she do that now this is something i will not spoil its a hidden secret.the cast:all actors are passable except Famke Janssen her performance is amazing as always her timing is awesome she understands the character too deep i did expect her to beat some bad guys up here but none of those scenes come.this was an uninteresting,slow paced & to be honest a kind of boring film and not for everyone so overall if you are a fan of Famke Janssen watch Turn The River 2007 my rating is 4/10.
Roland E. Zwick
Hardscrabble single moms appear to be all the rage in indie dramas these days. That may account for why, after "Frozen River," "Sleepwalking" and the like, "Turn the River" doesn't feel quite as original and fresh as it otherwise might.Kailey Sullivan is a down-on-her-luck pool hustler who doesn't even have visitation rights with her 11-year-old son who lives with his abusive dad and stepmother. Kailey's plan is to make just enough money at the tables to enable her to grab the kid and head north of the border.Written and directed by Chris Eigeman, "Turn the River" has a nice feel for the rhythms and tones of everyday life, with the drama as understated as the performances. The scenes between mother and son are particularly well conceived and executed. There is sensitive, thoughtful, subtle work by Famke Janssen as Kailey; Jaymie Dornana as her son, Gulley; Matt Ross as Gulley's dad; Lois Smith as the boy's paternal grandmother; and Rip Torn as the pool hall owner who sets up matches for the cash-strapped Kailey and serves as go-between for her and her son.Even the melodrama at the end is nicely underplayed, so much so that we can forgive the air of déjà vu that hangs over much of the work.
Michael O'Keefe
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.
Lee Eisenberg
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.
