Ranking every River Phoenix movie from worst to best
When River Phoenix passed away due to a tragic drug overdose in 1993, the devastating effect of his death rippled through cinema and popular culture in a way that still hasn’t really stopped. For many, it signified the end of an era; a door closing on a type of hedonistic young adulthood that had pervaded since the 1970s.
Of course, it was a simply unbearable personal tragedy for others – for the Phoenix family and the countless other musicians and filmmakers that River had been close with. In turn, the way the harrowing phone call made by Jaoquin to 911 was commodified and sensationalised by the press led to a whole generation of actors completely severing their connection to the media.
Although his career lasted less than nine years, the rich array of performances that Phoenix gave us heralded the beginning of an incredibly diverse and complex acting career. If the trajectory of his brother, Joaquin, is anything to go by, if Phoenix was still alive today, there’s every chance he would be considered one of the greats.
While his death will always define the 1990s, and audiences will never really be able to think of Phoenix as anything other than the 23-year-old who overdosed, the filmography he left us tells a story of a promising artist who had a lot to say, and even more to feel. With 30 years having passed since his death, let’s rank every film Phoenix ever appeared in.
Ranking every River Phoenix movie:
14. Dark Blood (George Sluizer, 2012)
Shot initially back in 1993, production on this thriller was abandoned due to the tragic and untimely death of Phoenix. The film follows a young couple who break down in the middle of nowhere, only to be rescued by a reclusive and enigmatic Boy (played by Phoenix). Driven insane by the passing of his own wife several years earlier, he holds them hostage.
Nearly 20 years later, Sluizer, known for his horror films, ‘completed’ the film by employing the novel technique of literally reading aloud, like a narrator, the missing scenes and describing what happened. The result, whilst an engaging and creative solution, is nevertheless an unfinished film that can’t be held to the same criticism as his others. This is a shame because the shot scenes featured Phoenix subverting his usual type by playing a genuinely creepy villain.
13. Explorers (Eric Luke, 1985)
Starring both Phoenix and Ethan Hawke in their debut feature film roles, Eric Luke’s sci-fi fantasy adventure chronicles the efforts of two teenagers who build a spaceship that lets them travel out to outer space. After receiving strange dreams informing him of how to build it (think Contact but for teenagers), Ben (played by Hawke) proposes a blueprint to his friend Wolfgang (Phoenix), who has the technical prowess to actually get the thing built.
Taking obvious cues from Spielberg’s blend of family film/sci-fi, Explorers manages to be incredibly charming, but the latter half of the film has the two boys getting abducted by aliens who turn out to be unruly teenagers themselves – and the film ultimately descends into campy cheesiness.
12. Little Nikita (Richard Benjamin, 1988)
Extra marks are awarded to this film marking the first of two collaborations between Phoenix and Sidney Poitier. Phoenix stars as Jimmy, an intelligent San Diego high-school student who realises that he’s actually a Soviet sleeper agent whose real name is Nikita.
In principle, a fascinating concept, Little Nikita then shifts into a slightly stiff and generic thriller, featuring high-octane chases and rogue Russian agents holding people at gunpoint. The themes of identity are abandoned, which is disappointing, but the chemistry between Phoenix and the legendary Poitier makes it worth sticking through to the end.
11. A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (William Richert, 1988)
This period drama about the shift from childhood to adulthood is genuinely quite poignant, although terrible marketing and one of the worst posters imaginable that makes it look like a Cheaper by the Dozen knock-off did the film severely damage when it opened in theatres.
Phoenix plays the titular Jimmy Reardon, a high school graduate torn between pursuing the corporate life his father envisions or setting off on his own and finding his own way through life. It’s an age-old conundrum, and Phoenix is moving in his depiction of a young adult going through something we all have: deciding who we truly are – and what sort of person we want to be.
10. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg, 1989)
This one is tricky: on the one hand, Phoenix is barely in it. He plays a young Indiana Jones during the very opening scene, showing us a teen Indy in 1912, getting his first taste of archaeological adventure. The film then, of course, sticks with Harrison Ford for the rest of the way.
On the other hand… it’s Indiana Jones! While not regarded as the finest of the trilogy, it is still one of the most soulful and wholesome adventure films to come out of the 1980s, and Phoenix does a fantastic job of selling us his version of an up-and-coming Indy, which is pivotal to the rest of the film.
9. Silent Tongue (Sam Shepherd, 1994)
Released posthumously a year of Phoenix’s death, Sam Shephard’s neo-western horror mash-up is a tricky one to pin down. When it came out, critics were torn straight down the middle, with some praising Shephard’s bleak and dreamy western, while others thought it was the most tedious and slow thing to come out that year.
If you’re in the right mood, the film can be incredibly hypnotic and engrossing. Phoenix plays Talbot Roe, a young frontiersman who has been driven into madness by his wife’s passing (the second young widower that Phoenix played). The actual plot of the film is straightforward. However, the intrigue lies in the way Shephard, known for being deeply immersed in the world of art, folds layer after layer of pure, intoxicating atmosphere upon each other.
8. The Thing Called Love (Peter Bogdanovich, 1993)
Peter Bogdanovich will always be one of the greats, with a filmography from the 1970s and 1980s containing some of New Hollywood‘s best films. A pairing between him and the talents of Phoenix was always going to be good, and it is good; it’s just a shame that the film could have been more ambitious.
Set in the Nashville music scene, Phoenix plays James Wright, a talented musician. When aspiring singer Mirana Presley tries to break into the world, the two star-crossed lovers meet, and a tumultuous romance brews. The film is a meandering, meditative character study that never really goes anywhere, but it’s a pleasure to watch regardless, bolstered by a fantastic country soundtrack and deft direction from the late, great Bogdonavich.
7. I Love You to Death (Lawrence Kasdan, 1990)
This 1990 black comedy marked a significant departure for Lawrence Kasdan, who was previously known for co-writing several Star Wars and Indiana Jones films for George Lucas. Telling the bizarre true story of a wife who ordered a hit on her pizzeria-owning husband, Phoenix appears as Devo, a dopey co-worker of the wife who helps her with the plan.
I Love You to Death is a very strange film, but its strength lies in the performances of everyone involved. From Kevin Kline as the husband who, hilariously, simply cannot be killed, to Tracey Ullman (of Three of a Kind fame) as the wife, the much-missed William Hurt as a constantly stoned hitman and Phoenix as Devo – the film is a celebration of zany, unbridled character acting.
6. The Mosquito Coast (Peter Weir, 1986)
Acclaimed Australian director Peter Weir applies his lens to an adaptation of Paul Theroux’s novel, with Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver) penning the screenplay. If that sounds like a match made in heaven, it’s because it is. This profound and eerie tale tells of an American father (played by Harrison Ford) who transports his family to the jungle of Central America.
Panned upon release, the film has since seen a critical reevaluation and is now regarded as a cult classic. Phoenix plays Charlie, the eldest son, whose admiration for his father gradually devolves into outright hatred – with shocking consequences. The film’s ending pretty much hinges on the actions of Charlie, and Phoenix carries it with all the maturity and dignity of the rest of the adult cast.
5. Sneakers (Phil Alden Robinson, 1992)
This is just one of those robust, well-made thrillers of the 1990s that has you asking why they don’t make ’em like that anymore. Lending the same sincerity and earnestness that he gave to Field of Dreams, director Phil Alden Robinson presents us with a thrilling and suspenseful story about national security, paranoia and digital espionage.
It also has a killer cast consisting of Sundance owner Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd and Ben Kingsley. Although he’s not a central player, Phoenix portrays Carl Arbogast, a young computer hacking whiz investigating a mysterious device capable of breaking any encryption. It’s also a delight to see him reunite with Poitier, four years after Little Nikita, who plays a CIA agent-turned-family man.
4. Dogfight (Nancy Savoca, 1991)
An utterly overlooked masterpiece, Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight has you wondering why the filmmaker isn’t one of our leading female directors right now. A stunning, heart-aching, soul-searching movie, this coming-of-age period drama about the Vietnam War presents itself as a romance but is ultimately about a young woman instilling in a boy a passion for self-discovery.
Phoenix plays Eddie Birdlace, a young soldier on a 24-hour leave before he is shipped off to fight in Vietnam. He and his fellow soldiers plan to attend a ‘dogfight’ – a cruel party where men compete to bring the ‘ugliest’ dates. Eddie picks up a girl, Rose, but quickly realises that not only does he not want to humiliate her at this party, but that he genuinely wants to spend more time with her before he leaves the US, possibly never to return.
3. Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988)
Sidney Lumet, a bonafide maestro of cinema with a filmography that extends throughout six decades, tackles the counter-culture movement of the 1970s and explores its aftermath in this poignant family drama. Phoenix plays Danny, the teenage son of a couple constantly on the run, wanted by the authorities after bombing a napalm factory back in 1971.
Danny, a talented pianist, starts questioning their fugitive lifestyle, always on the move and never allowed to settle. He gives a sensational performance as a young, gifted boy who starts to realise he’s not responsible for whatever his parents did – and this causes an irreparable rift in the family dynamic. A triumph for Phoenix and Lumet reaching the same cinematic heights of Network.
2. Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, 1986)
Is there a more definitive and heartwrenching story of the 1980s than this adaptation of Stephen King‘s novella? We don’t think so either. In only his second role, Phoenix plays Chris Chambers, one of four boys who embark on a fantastical adventure – to find the corpse of a missing child.
Framed as a flashback to a 1950s childhood, the story sees the boys hiking through the wilderness on their mission to encounter death. Friendships are tested, lessons are learned – and the whole film provides the blueprint for every good, intelligent film about children that’s come out since. It’s widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time and for very, very good reason.
1. My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)
Another tale of introspection and self-discovery, this loose retelling of Shakespeare‘s epic Henry IV and V plays transports the action to… the world of modern-day male prostitution. Phoenix plays Mike, a narcoleptic rent boy prone to sudden unconscious episodes.
Along with Scott (played by Keanu Reeves), Mike makes a journey from Portland to Idago to Rome, where he tries to find his long-lost mother. Bleak, tender, funny and sad, the film boasts Phoenix’s absolute and definitive performance and has Gus Van Sant at his best, exercising unparalleled sensitivity and artistry.
