Python Hyena
The River Wild (1994): Dir: Curtis Hanson / Cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn, John C. Reilly, Benjamin Bratt: Toned down inspiration from Deliverance minus the common sense. And who thought up that stupid title? It sounds like fancy wording for a non fancy film. It regards a mother who was a former river rafter who takes her son and husband rafting only to encounter two sinister males who force her to raft the Gauntlet. Familiar plot contains its share of suspense including an effective climax but much of its credit goes to its leads. Against it are stupid situations such as the meathead ranger who cannot detect the obvious. Directed by Curtis Hanson handles the action with excellent photography. He previously made Bad Influence and may have had a few himself with the screenwriter on this film. Powerful performance by Streep who is positioned to risk all for the sake of her family and does so with guts and brains. Kevin Bacon makes for a superb sinister villain. Unfortunately to these two great performances comes the under performed. John C. Reilly is basically a sidekick thug to Bacon. David Strathairn is weighted down as stereotypical dad who seems able to outrun a raft. Benjamin Bratt plays the stupidest law enforcement officer since anyone in a Police Academy film. Survival theme cannot prevent lame situations within the screenplay from becoming washed up. Score: 5 / 10
Muskrat36
Not a great film by any means, but what a river! The river is the true star, and I suppose you have to put that down to good photography and camera work. At no point in the film did I doubt that the people were actually in the boat, on the river, and in danger. There are few surprises. Nothing in the film is unexpected. I won't go as far as to tell you whether the family escaped the villains, or what happened to them, so you will have to find out for yourself. Meryl Streep's performance is adequate, but not exceptional, and occasionally annoying. I found myself wanting Kevin Bacon's character to shoot her on more than one occasion. There is a little tension generated by the fact that the criminal is more manly than the wimpy, hard working husband and inattentive father, but that is soon cleared up, and the sides are clearly drawn. The father eventually shows himself to have an alternative identity as some kind of Indian Super-Brave, smoke signals and everything. I kid you not. Worth watching if you want to watch a family film along Disney lines.
SnoopyStyle
Tom Hartman (David Strathairn) cancels on his son birthday once again. Gail (Meryl Streep) takes the kids on the trip by herself. Gail is sure that their marriage is over. She's a former river guide, and takes her son Roarke rafting down to their family home. They meet Wade (Kevin Bacon), and his friend Terry (John C. Reilly) at the river. Then Tom surprises everyone by coming.It would be better if the guys weren't such obvious villains. It could be a better surprise. And the reveal could be done earlier. With the obvious twist coming, the tension isn't really there. It just doesn't have enough intrigue. It is always a matter of tones, and how obvious the clues should be. It would be much better to concentrate on the flirting instead. The biggest problem is that it makes Gail look stupid especially with all her giggling. It is however interesting to see Streep take on something physical and really stretch into unknown territory.
sddavis63
I'll grant that the last 15 minutes or so of "The River Wild" are a pretty exciting and suspenseful white water rafting adventure. The unfortunate thing about it is that these are only the last 15 minutes or so. Up to that point what we have is a pretty slow moving river journey, with the added complication, of course, being that the troubled family on the trip finds more trouble as they pick up a couple of guys who robbed the local cattle auction. In the end the movie turns out to be pretty formulaic, with movements and plot points that we've definitely seen before - many times, in fact.Meryl Streep was an interesting choice as Gail - mother and white water guide - and while she was interesting (basically because this isn't what you'd think of as a normal Meryl Streep role) I didn't find her convincing in the part, either (which is probably why it's not a normal Meryl Streep role!) Kevin Bacon was somewhat more credible as Wade, the guy apparently in charge of the robbery, who decides to take the family hostage in order to use Gail's rafting expertise to run a particularly deadly river in the hopes of escaping the law. Along for the ride were David Strathairn as Gail's husband, John C. Reilly as Wade's sidekick and Joseph Mazzello as young Roarke, Gail's son.It's a decent enough cast. The story isn't especially original, though, and I just didn't find the movie to be all that exciting. Watching a rafting trip (which is essentially what we do for the bulk of this movie) with a few bits of drama thrown in as we become gradually more suspicious of the two strangers doesn't exactly make for a gripping two hours of viewing. There is, of course, the requisite ending as it seems that all the family's troubles are solved by having gone through this adventure together. (3/10)
AD
