THE RIVER WILD
A film review by Rich Kulawiec
Copyright 1994 Rich Kulawiec
Overall: ***
THE RIVER WILD immediately invites comparisons with other films containing whitewater footage--especially DELIVERANCE. The parallels are striking, since in both cases the writers added to the inherent danger of river-running by creating actively hostile characters intent on doing harm to Our Heroes. Speaking of which, the heroes in this film are Meryl Streep (Gail), David Strathairn (Gail's husband Tom), Joseph Mazzello (her son Roarke) and Maggie (their golden retriever). Together, they play a somewhat dysfunctional family torn between Tom's obsessive work habits and Gail's more relaxed, earthy values. Roarke is split between these worlds--while he seems to appreciate the petroglyphs carved on the canyon walls, he spends a lot of his time plugged into his portable stereo.
This story begins as a uneasy river trip; Tom joins Gail and Roarke at the very last minute, having almost-but-not-quite torn himself away from his work in Boston. Gail, a former river guide, is simultaneously pleased that he's decided to come along and unhappy that he doesn't seem able to relax and immerse himself in the outdoor experience. Neither is prepared for the consequences of their coming encounter with chillingly charming bad guy Wade (Kevin Bacon) and his somewhat reluctant cohort (John C. Reilly). This pair are on the run, and have decided to make their escape downriver; and while they may not be smart enough to have thought their plans through, they are smart enough to coerce Gail to assist them. Unfortunately for all concerned, the way downriver includes The Gauntlet, an intimidating and ferocious rapid which may or may not be runnable....
Dennis O'Neill's script includes a few cliche moments--the startled-by-the-benign-character-with-accompanying-musical-punctuation scene, and the child-too-stupid-to-see-the-obvious-danger scene; but these are exceptions to what is largely a well-written story which manages to develop multiple characters in parallel. The plot flows much a like a whitewater river: calm and gentle here, unexpectedly violent there. The photography is exceptionally good; unlike its predecessor DELIVERANCE, which was largely filmed from the riverbank, THE RIVER WILD includes many on-board shots which sweep the movie-goer right into the huge waves and monstrous holes that make up the larger rapids. THE RIVER WILD also differs from DELIVERANCE in its representation of evil forces; in the present film, the bad guys are much easier to identify, and the menace much more overt. The all-encompassing sense of foreboding that was present on the Chattooga is replaced here with alternating moments of light and dark.
Streep's performance? In brief, Meryl Streep is one of the best and most versatile actresses working today, and her performance here shows yet another aspect of her talents. And while she dwarfs everyone else on the screen, the supporting roles played by Bacon, Mazzello, and Maggie (!) should not be lost.
Incidentally, a word about the "danger" bit: some folks (here and elsewhere) have commented that the rapids didn't look that tough, and that perhaps Jerry Goldsmith's musical score combined with Curtis Hanson's direction had been employed to exaggerate their difficulty. As an experienced whitewater kayaker and rafter, let me reassure you that they are every bit as a tough as they look, if not more, and that a run through "The Gauntlet" (in real life, Kootenai Falls, a class V-VI drop on the Kootenai in Montana) has every possibility of being lethal. Even Blossom Bar on the Rogue (Oregon, class III-IV, used for a number of scenes in the film) is by no means an easy rapid, and underequipped, underexperienced paddlers *will* get hurt there. So if this movie has fired your sense of adventure, please don't rush out on rivers you're not prepared for; the last thing the whitewater community needs is a rash of injuries/deaths such as followed the release of DELIVERANCE. Instead, consider a guided trip on a more moderate stream; the harder rivers will be there when you're ready for them.
For an excellent account of the production of this film, from the viewpoint of Arlene Burns (experienced whitewater professional and stunt double for Streep in some scenes), see the October 1994 issue of PADDLER magazine--available in outdoor/backpacking shops.
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews