The River Thief Film Review

A teenage drifter finds his larcenous tendencies quelled by a new closeness with a young woman and her grandfather in N.D. Wilson's directorial debut.

Making the leap from author to filmmaker is a tricky proposition. No less a literary personage than Norman Mailer demonstrated the pitfalls with such cinematic disasters as Maidstone andTough Guys Don't Dance. Making his feature debut, YA author N.D. Wilson likewise flounders with The River Thief, a hoary melodrama revealing the filmmaker's inexperience.

Set along the Snake River in the Pacific Northwest, the story concerns Diz (Joel Courtney), a disaffected teen who gleefully steals from whoever he can while wandering throughout the region. Whether casually purloining items from a pawn shop or skipping out on a meal at a small-town diner, Diz displays absolutely no compunction about his larcenous activities. After committing the latter offense, he becomes familiar with the disgruntled waitress, Selah (Raleigh Cain), and her doting grandfather Marty (Tommy Cash, younger brother of Johnny, making his first big-screen look).

Refusing Marty's generosity, Diz tells him, "I don't do gifts." But because of his attraction to Selah, he takes the elderly man up on his present to join him and his granddaughter at their home for dinner.

Diz also finds himself in possession of a cool $1 million belonging to the town's crooked sheriff (Paul Johannson) and his drug-dealing cohort (Bas Rutten, using his MMA experience to glower convincingly). When the newly flush Diz showers Selah with gifts in an effort to woo her, it attracts the awareness of the criminals who will stop at nothing to get their loot back.

The film's storyline is infused with religious overtones, with Marty offering Diz lessons about the redemptive aspects of gratitude and often breaking out into renditions of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" in a fragile, gravelly voice. Writer/director Wilson unsuccessfully combines the various thematic elements, including the thriller and teen romance storylines, with the result that the film suffers from wild tonal inconsistencies. The climactic plot revelation is far more groan-inducing than effective.

Thanks to the widescreen lensing efficiently capturing the beauty of the scenic Snake River environs, the film looks terrific, with Courtney delivering a charismatic turn as the teenage drifter. But it's not enough for The River Thief to come anywhere close to capturing your thoughts.

Distributor: Freestyle Digital Media

Production company: Gorilla Poet Productions

Cast: Joel Courtney, Paul Johansson, Bas Rutten, Raleigh Cain, Tommy Cash

Director-screenwriter: N.D.Wilson

Producers: Aaron Rench, N.D. Wilson

Executive producers: Darren Doane, Brian Oxley, Sally Oxley, Kjell Christophersen

Director of photography: Andy Patch

Editor: Dane Saxon

Costume designer: Terra Stuart

Composer: Eli Beaird