A pool hustler and card sharp (Famke Janssen) schemes to steal her son away from his abusive father, from whom she is divorced, in the plodding drama “Turn the River.”
Set in present-day New York City and upstate, the movie is an odd amalgamation of ’50s melodrama (she was a GOOD woman lured into the DEGRADATION of the halls of VICE) told in the wan, listless style of today’s glum indies. Janssen’s working-class accent isn’t particularly convincing, and her situation doesn’t make a lot of sense – if she’s such a great hustler and knows how to earn $50,000 in a matter of days, why is she so broke and beaten-down?
The directorial debut of the acerbically funny actor Chris Eigeman (“Metropolitan,” “Barcelona”), “Turn the River” lacks almost everything Eigeman has as a performer: charisma, wit and snappy delivery.
Running time: 92 minutes. Rated R (profanity) At the Village East, Second Avenue and 11th Street.