THE RIVER WILD
A film review by Jon A. Webb
Copyright 1994 Jon A. Webb
THE RIVER WILD has Meryl Streep as a rower and former river guide with a family. She meets up with trouble on a white water rafting trip with her family, and deals with it.
It is clear that Meryl Streep chose this film because of the opportunity to portray a strong female in a commercial context, and her acting adds immeasurably to the quality of the product. Watching her, I felt I learned something about women generally; I have never felt this way before. Streep takes this fairly obvious, somewhat creaky vehicle with echoes of THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY, DELIVERANCE, etc. and turns it into a commentary on the strength of a woman. As my wife said on leaving the theater: "I feel incredibly empowered--but also totally inadequate."
She is supported in this by a fine cast, particularly the big names--David Strathairn as her relatively weak husband, and Kevin Bacon as the macho stranger. Both of them deliver good performances, but they are out-acted by Streep, as she has consistently out-acted every leading man in her distinguished career. Here her strength as an actress works better than it ever has before, since she now has her experience to draw on and an appropriately strong character to portray.
Here's to Meryl Streep, whose career is finally back on track! Here's to the director, who was intelligent enough to allow her to carry the weight of the movie, and to allow the tension and suspense come from her brilliant style!
The script is weak--in lesser hands, this would be strictly made-for-TV fare--and the effects do not work very well; I honestly never felt that they were that much in danger on the river, despite numerous scenes that must have been hard to film, showing them apparently bouncing around in some pretty tough water.
But this hardly matters in the face of such a richly moving portrayal. It is almost enough to make one wish that Streep were a man, so that she would get the recognition she deserves, as the finest cinematic actor that ever lived, and the corresponding emolument, rather than merely as the finest actress, and the pay of an upper-end actress with a young body. But it is better for us, if not for her, as it is; we will continue to learn from this great woman as she continues to turn her experience into art.
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