A River Made to Drown In
Encyclopedia
A River Made to Drown In is a 1997
drama film
starring Michael Imperioli
, Richard Chamberlain, Ute Lemper
and James Duval
. Directed by James Merendino
, Merendino had his name removed and the film is credited to Alan Smithee
. A River Made to Drown In failed to secure US domestic theatrical distribution, but was released on DVD
and has appeared on here!
television.
. Allen had for a time been Thaddeus's "kept boy" and Thaddeus has come to Allen to die. Before he dies, however, he wants Allen to help him find Jaime (Duval), another young hustler who had taken Allen's place with Thaddeus. Thaddeus is worried that he's infected Jaime with HIV
and says he wants to care for him financially.
The film follows Allen's efforts to fulfil Thaddeus's final wishes while struggling to maintain his relationship with Eva and avoid the temptation of being drawn back into his former life on the streets.
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli
James Michael Imperioli , commonly known as Michael Imperioli, is an American actor and television writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He also...
, Richard Chamberlain, Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
and James Duval
James Duval
James Edward Duval is an American actor, who is most famous for his roles in the Gregg Araki trilogy—Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere—in addition to Frank in Donnie Darko, Blank in May, Miguel in Independence Day and Singh in Go.-Personal life:Duval was born in Detroit, Michigan...
. Directed by James Merendino
James Merendino
James Anthony Merendino is an American film director and screenwriter who is perhaps most notable for directing the 1999 film SLC Punk!.-Life:...
, Merendino had his name removed and the film is credited to Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to...
. A River Made to Drown In failed to secure US domestic theatrical distribution, but was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and has appeared on here!
Here! (TV network)
here! is an American premium television network targeting the LGBT audiences. Launched in 2002, here! is available nationwide on all major cable systems, fiber optics systems, and Internet TV providers as either a 24/7 premium subscription channel, a video on demand service, and/or a subscription...
television.
Plot synopsis
Allen (Imperioli) is a struggling artist who had formerly worked as a street hustler. He has left that life behind and is involved with Eva (Lemper) his art dealer. His life is upset by the arrival of Thaddeus (Chamberlain), a wealthy lawyer near death from AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Allen had for a time been Thaddeus's "kept boy" and Thaddeus has come to Allen to die. Before he dies, however, he wants Allen to help him find Jaime (Duval), another young hustler who had taken Allen's place with Thaddeus. Thaddeus is worried that he's infected Jaime with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and says he wants to care for him financially.
The film follows Allen's efforts to fulfil Thaddeus's final wishes while struggling to maintain his relationship with Eva and avoid the temptation of being drawn back into his former life on the streets.
Cast
- Richard Chamberlain as Thaddeus MacKenzie
- Michael ImperioliMichael ImperioliJames Michael Imperioli , commonly known as Michael Imperioli, is an American actor and television writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He also...
as Allen Hayden - Ute LemperUte LemperUte Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
as Eva Kline - James DuvalJames DuvalJames Edward Duval is an American actor, who is most famous for his roles in the Gregg Araki trilogy—Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere—in addition to Frank in Donnie Darko, Blank in May, Miguel in Independence Day and Singh in Go.-Personal life:Duval was born in Detroit, Michigan...
as Jaime - Austin PendletonAustin PendletonAustin Pendleton is an American film, television, and stage actor, a playwright, and a theatre director and instructor.-Life and career:...
as Billy - Steve TylerSteve Tyler (actor)Steve Tyler is an American actor and stage producer.-Biography:Tyler was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He lives in Los Angeles, California where he is an active participant in the city's artistic, political and philanthropical communities...
as Bartender - Talia ShireTalia ShireTalia Shire is an American actress most known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series.-Personal life:...
as Jaime's Mother - Mike StarrMike Starr (actor)Michael "Mike" Starr is an American actor. Starr is notable for his large size, standing 6 ft 3 1/2 in , and has typically been typecast as thugs or henchmen....
as Frank - Richard RiehleRichard Riehle-Life and career:Riehle was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, the son of Mary Margaret , a nurse, and Herbert John Riehle , an assistant postmaster. He attended the University of Notre Dame....
as Heavyset Man - Michael SaucedoMichael SaucedoMichael Saucedo is an American actor best known for his role as Juan Santiago on the soap opera General Hospital from 1999 until 2001. He is also a musician.-Personal life:...
as Luis - James KarenJames KarenJames Karen is an American character actor of Broadway, film and television.-Life and career:Karen was born Jacob Karnofsky in Wilkes-Barre, in northeastern Pennsylvania, the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants Mae and Joseph H. Karnofsky, a produce dealer. As a young man, Karen was encouraged...
as Ray - Michael KearnsMichael KearnsMichael Kearns is an American actor, writer, director, teacher, producer, and activist. He is noted for being the first openly gay actor, and after an announcement on Entertainment Tonight in 1991, the first openly HIV positive actor in Hollywood.-Early life and education:Kearns was born in St....
as Arthur - Michael O'Hagan as Jack
- Lewis ArquetteLewis ArquetteLewis Michael Arquette was an American film actor, writer and producer. Arquette was known for playing "J.D. Pickett" on the TV series, The Waltons, where he worked from 1978–1981.-Life and career:...
as Vagabond - Paul Marius as Turk
- Jon Powell as Martin