The Crimson Rivers

Name: The Crimson Rivers
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Released: June 29, 2001
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 49
Cast: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel

2001

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Ratings

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Crimson Rivers

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Movie Details & Credits

TriStar Pictures | Release Date: June 29, 2001 | R

Starring: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel

Summary: An action thriller set in against the breathtaking backdrop of the French Alps, The Crimson Rivers stars Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel in a gripping who-dunnit involving a series of grisly murders, a child's death twenty years earlier, and the secret history of a small town. (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 106 min

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert

A breathtaking exercise in the macabre, a gruesome thriller with quirky cops and a killer of Lecterian complexity, and even when the movie is perfect nonsense, it's so voluptuous that you're grateful to be watching it anyway. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Does not end well. But there's a lot of pleasure in getting there. Read full review

Robert K. Elder

A confusing and not entirely believable ending clouds the issue, though, burying some fine performances and cinematography under an avalanche of gore and plot twists.

Michael O'Sullivan

Wants to be about life, death and the red liquid that flows beneath our skin. It ends up being more about stage blood and stupid plot tricks. Read full review

Jonathan Foreman

Two things make this film slightly more interesting than its American B-movie equivalents. There's the artless way it shows the French state exercising its power and the charisma of French stars.

Ella Taylor

Never lets up: A door can't shut without sounding like a bomb going off; mutilated bodies show up with clockwork punctuality, gratuitously underscored by a relentlessly overbearing soundtrack. Read full review

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

Any cassette of "Millennium" would serve up better thrills and chills. Read full review

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User Reviews

MadDad

Nov 23, 2011

Excellent French cirminal thriller! Alsolutely worth watching. Film noir type of story Vincent Cassel and of course Jean Reno excellenty acting. Loved it! Worth also watching Part 2!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

eva3si0n

Aug 19, 2023

The Crimson Rivers is a great French thriller. Magnificent French duo of Jean Renault and Vincent Cassel. A confusing and not straightforward story that is well adapted in the film. There is also suspense in the right moments. The Crimson Rivers surprises with its approach, the thriller wasThe Crimson Rivers is a great French thriller. Magnificent French duo of Jean Renault and Vincent Cassel. A confusing and not straightforward story that is well adapted in the film. There is also suspense in the right moments. The Crimson Rivers surprises with its approach, the thriller was shot perfectly, surprises that French cinema can do so. Still, French cinema is associated with other genres and other levels of films. The Crimson Rivers can be recommended to anyone who likes not only French films, but also thrillers. The beginning of the film is somewhat delayed, but everything is compensated by the final third film, a great ending.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Kai82

Jun 24, 2021

It has a dark enjoyable thriller with a great atmosphere, an excellent cast and unique ideas for the story but is not for everyone's taste. The downside is that the story is for many not well enough explained. The director made the choice to not (well) explain all backgrounds and context inIt has a dark enjoyable thriller with a great atmosphere, an excellent cast and unique ideas for the story but is not for everyone's taste. The downside is that the story is for many not well enough explained. The director made the choice to not (well) explain all backgrounds and context in the story. I was able to puzzle the backstory together but it diluted the experience a little bit and a lot was just (correct) guessing. I could have been wrong here too so I think this point is valid criticism. However the atmosphere, mystery and good cast of actors are the saving grave of the movie. I watched it with friends and it was a good experience for all of us. So this is already the mayor deciding factor for you. If you can live with not getting everything explained on a silver plate and you fill the gaps with ideas / speculations it is a good experience. Otherwise it is also fair to describe it with weak story telling up to calling it a failure if you favor better storytelling. The story starts when Pierre Niemans an investigator from Paris is sent to a university town in the french alps to investigate a gruesome murder case. There will be much more to this and it is the start to a cat and mouse game with a story unlike anything you have seen before. I like the story and atmosphere and for me it works well. Like I said there a few gaps but I was able to fill them and I am considering myself not as second coming of Einstein or Stephen Hawking. It is refreshing and something nearly no one would expect (in a positive way). The story is actually based on a book “Blood Red Rivers” from Jean Christophe Grange I have yet to read so I can make no comparison in this review. The cast is well chosen with Jean Reno as Pierre Niemans who does a truly convincing job. Then we have Vincent Cassel as Max Kerkerian. He does a similar good job and both work well together. Nadia Fares can fully deliver a wide variety in her role and it is sad that I cant go into details because of spoilers. These 3 carry the movie and are a great strength. The other actors give a good performance and I see no reason to not praise the cast. For the director Mathieu Kassovitz I will say he created something unique that can be praised and scold at the same time. Other than that the visuals and atmosphere of the movie are excellent. I think they used a lot of care to chose the right sets, characters and dialogues to archive the desired effects / results. It shows also the abyss of human minds. Overall I repeat this is not a movie for everyone and it is one of the hit or miss movies. It is however unique enough that I can recommend it. I should warn you that some scenes are a bit gruesome and disturbing.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilipeNeto

Nov 6, 2018

It deserved a much better end.

French cinema, not infrequently, offers us real pearls. This is one more. A solid, well-made thriller with action and suspense in right action and two excellent actors in the lead roles. What disillusioned me a little was just the end, which falls into anIt deserved a much better end.

French cinema, not infrequently, offers us real pearls. This is one more. A solid, well-made thriller with action and suspense in right action and two excellent actors in the lead roles. What disillusioned me a little was just the end, which falls into an absurd cliché.

The script is based on an apparent coincidence: two police officers investigating isolated cases end up realizing that they will have to collaborate to solve a case that ultimately unites them: a wave of macabre and mysterious murders, all around an ancient university and prestigious, isolated in the middle of the French Alps.

Much of the quality of the film comes from the excellent performance of Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, two of the most international and prestigious French actors today. The former gave life to a hard-working, unrelenting professional detective, while the other was able to perfectly embody an unconventional, young, untimely cop. The other actors, for me, were a group of illustrious strangers who only gave support to these two professionals, but it is to be noted that everyone did well what they had to do.

The film made good use of the icy landscapes of the Alps, as well as the whole winter environment. The soundtrack is very good and adds suspense at the right times, as well as sound, visual and special effects. It's not a CGI show, though. It is based entirely on the weight of the two main actors, on the ability of both to interpret well, and on the story told.

As I mentioned initially, the film is perfect until very near the end, when it tries to surprise us with a turnaround that, for me, made no sense and prejudiced the plot. The climax, in the middle of a glacier, is absolutely cliché and boring, and ends up resorting to the ragged solution of the bad twin vs. nice twin. Absurd. It would have been better to solve the movie otherwise, he truly deserved it. Anyway, as this happens even in the final part, the film is still one of those I like to see.… Expand

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