On R List of Movie Reviews

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The River (1984)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 5/21

River84
5/21: Despite a couple of dramatic scenes, The River is very, very, very average.

If it wasn't for Mel Gibson's huge star power, the movie would've been difficult to sit through. Nothing much happens. It's kind of like watching The Grapes of Wrath all over again except the family stays, thanks to one man's immense stubbornness only because his ancestors were buried there.

To be honest, my advice to the wife is: just move away with the kids. The agriculture occupation is too difficult which is often marred with high rates of suicide in the face of low income. There's no question the land will be flooded heavily from time to time. In fact, it's not really about the river, so why not call the movie The Flood?

There are two scenes I spoke of for showing drama power, and they're the wife's arm being caught in the drive train underneath the tractor and the husband making a stand for his principles by blocking the flow once more. Other than them, there's a lot of ordinariness going on. At least, Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography is outstanding, earning himself one out of four career Academy Award nominations.

Tanned and handsome-looking, Mel Gibson is strangely aloof; in fact, he appears to be out of his element compared to Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. The word is Mel Gibson begged hard for the role and then later admitted he was simply miscast. An Oscar nomination went to Sissy Spacek, but she's merely okay. Scott Glenn repeats his Wes Hightower schtick but without taking any action.

All in all, The River will resonate the most with farmers and those who had faced similar situations.