I have heard about THE RIVER for years because it's aired at least once a year on channel 4 but for some unknown reasons I kinda avoided it. Last November I finally saw it and found it better than what I expected.
Tom Garvey (Mel Gibson) is a farmer that works in the family farm near the river, lives there with his wife and kids and has to face lots of adversities. The worst might be Joe Wade (Scott Glenn), a rich businessman that has always the eyes set on Garvey's wife and tries everything for buying his land for creating a power station and flood the valley. For helping the family more Garvey accepts a job in a steel mill only to be assumed as a strikebreaker because all the workers are on strike. Trouble isn't over, with the river that enlarged because of a rain and the margins weren't build well despite the efforts of Garvey and the few farmers left. As a last offer Wade forces Garvey and the other farmers to sell their proprierties but Garvey will manage to avoid that their land is speculated.
There are lots of tough moments and I mentioned some of them before but there were some funny ones throughout, the most memorable might be the one where a deer comes to the steel mill and doesn't leave. Why? Because he had to take a dump and he had to do it right there! And the ending, with Garvey that manages to save his land from sleazy Wade, is certainly some relief for the viewer.
As for the rest, the direction by Mark Rydell is very crisp tho not on the same level of when he directed ON GOLDEN POND. The acting is mostly good, with Gibson that here gives one of his early best performances, Sissy Spacek as his understanding wife and Glenn as a sleazy villain interested only in flooding the area and leaving lots of farmers without work while he wants to create a power station.
Overall, one of those movies that you might know because it's aired often on TV and it's still worth a view for the aforementioned reasons. Not to be missed not just if you are a Gibson fan.
Tom Garvey (Mel Gibson) is a farmer that works in the family farm near the river, lives there with his wife and kids and has to face lots of adversities. The worst might be Joe Wade (Scott Glenn), a rich businessman that has always the eyes set on Garvey's wife and tries everything for buying his land for creating a power station and flood the valley. For helping the family more Garvey accepts a job in a steel mill only to be assumed as a strikebreaker because all the workers are on strike. Trouble isn't over, with the river that enlarged because of a rain and the margins weren't build well despite the efforts of Garvey and the few farmers left. As a last offer Wade forces Garvey and the other farmers to sell their proprierties but Garvey will manage to avoid that their land is speculated.
There are lots of tough moments and I mentioned some of them before but there were some funny ones throughout, the most memorable might be the one where a deer comes to the steel mill and doesn't leave. Why? Because he had to take a dump and he had to do it right there! And the ending, with Garvey that manages to save his land from sleazy Wade, is certainly some relief for the viewer.
As for the rest, the direction by Mark Rydell is very crisp tho not on the same level of when he directed ON GOLDEN POND. The acting is mostly good, with Gibson that here gives one of his early best performances, Sissy Spacek as his understanding wife and Glenn as a sleazy villain interested only in flooding the area and leaving lots of farmers without work while he wants to create a power station.
Overall, one of those movies that you might know because it's aired often on TV and it's still worth a view for the aforementioned reasons. Not to be missed not just if you are a Gibson fan.