Movie: In the Middle Of the River

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

My Boyfriend's Back

Plot Overview

March, 2016. Somewhere around Four Corners where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet. On or about a reservation bordered by a river. A mentally scrambled Gabriel “Gabe” Harris (Eric Hunter) has returned from Iraq with “bad papers” not covering needed therapy. He plans to go to college but is still in fighting mode and gets more of the same at home (“We're in a race war now.”) His ex-girl­friend Dana Tsosi (Nikki Lowe) from the rez is still mad at him for leaving with­out saying good-bye (“You just vanished.”) His incarcerated dope-dealing partner Samuel Davies (Andre L. Burch) blames him for leaving him in the lurch and marks his grand­father's card for being responsible for his sister—and Sam's ex—Naomi's death. His younger brother Ishmael (Morgan Hill) is doing gate­way drugs with Corey (Johnny Visotcky) younger brother of big time dope-dealer Wyatt “Trigger Finger” Miller (Matthew T. Metzler.) Dana claims Wyatt raped her (“You're gonna pay for what you did”) and has an ongoing beef with Stacy McWells (Ava del Cielo) who's providing him with an alibi. The authorities are useless.

At unlikely loggerheads are Gabe who'd just served in the Army and his Vietnam vet grandfather Laurence (Max Thayer), two peas in a pod as it were. Playing in the background was the Nam era song, “I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die” rag by Country Joe and the Fish. Its words include:

And it's one, two, three, What are we fightin' for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Next stop is Viet Nam.

Oh, the same old, same old.

Ideology

Judging from the Bible names in the family—Magdalena, Gabriel, Ishmael, Josiah, Efraim, Naomi, Noah, John—it's safe to assume there's some kind of Christian influence there. Indeed, the grand­mother Nanna is the dedicated peace­maker (“Have faith; let me handle him”) and imparts to her grand­son the advice, “Forgive and you your­self will be forgiven.” This comes from a saying of Jesus characterized by novelist James Stewart per:

When she came to the Sermon on the Mount, she was deeply moved. Here were high standards indeed. Jesus was assuredly a sage. Also, He seemed to put His truths with a simplicity and clearness that brought conviction. (224)

The verse alluded to is: (Luke 6:37) “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” It fell to Gabe not to judge his grand­father, especially not knowing all the facts. It fell to him also not to condemn his little bother for smoking dope. And having apologized, he was up for forgiveness from his sidestepped girlfriend.

Production Values

“” (2018) was written and directed by Damian John Harper. It stars Eric Hunter, Matthew T. Metzler and Ava Del Cielo. There was some kind of German influence on this film and the parts turned out fiery to a fault. Many of the actors couldn't maintain the passion through to the end of their lines; they would start speaking from the gut, then from the head, and finally return to the gut. Weird, but the ear can be forgiving. I think the unseasoned actors delivered for their screen tests but failed on the rolling dialogue.

It was shot with a versatile hand-held camera that was some­how stabilized to prevent shaking. Either that or the camera­man was expert. The sound­track featured steady, bombastic back­ground noise to maintain the tension, broken only for: river­side ambiance, horse grooming, and praying. These lulls correspond to chapter breaks. Runtime is 1 hour 53 minutes.

Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation

This isn't one to watch late at night as it'll get you worked up to where you can't sleep. It portrays Christianity in a favorable light while making Indian prayers as peaceful as Christian ones. It's patriotic, anti-violence, pro-horse, anti-drugs, pro-education, anti-discrimination (against Indians,) and pro-gun safety, i.e. store the weapon and the ammo separately. This one touts family values, but the police are a joke.

Movie Ratings

Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability for children: Not rated, but not too bad. Special effects: Well done camera work. Video Occasion: Good for groups inluding Indians. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.

Works Cited

Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.

Stewart, James Livingstone. The Laughing Buddha. Copyright 1925 by Fleming H. Revell Company. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1925. Print.

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