The River Wild

To celebrate her son Roarke's birthday and help build his relationship with his father (and her), Gail takes the family unit up to where she used to work as a river guide for a bit of white water rafting. Once there they meet another group heading down river and, when Wade and Terry lose their guide, Gail agrees to let them follow them in their own boat. However when Gail and Tom begin to feel uncomfortable with their guests they try to slip away unnoticed – only for Wade to pull a gun and insist that Gail will help them proceed downriver and cross the legendary Gauntlet.

I first watched this when it came out in the cinema and I remember enjoying it. However noticing it back on television recently I couldn't help but be a little uninterested in it and wondered if I had just false memories of how good it really had been and so decided to watch it again and see. After a slow opening the film gets down to business with the two boats getting together and gradually going to the conclusion that we know is coming but enjoy heading towards anyway. The film delivers its straightforward plot well in the early stages, using the father-figure conflict well (even if it ignores the heavy feminist subtext) to generate the tension, while the later stages is more of a simple hostage thriller sort of affair. This aspect is still quite enjoyable even if it is not as tight as it really needed to be and, as a non-rafter, I wasn't sure how intimidated I was meant to be by the load of water that was the gauntlet.

As a result, the film is a little talky but the cast are able to deal with it and it is really only the clunky, slow start that suffers as a result. I'm not a big fan of Meryl Streep and I didn't think she was totally fitted to the material given her but mostly her performance was natural enough to be convincing. Strathairn plays second fiddle to Streep but he is still enjoyable as he delivers an insecure character. With these two big names in the lead it would have been easy for them to dominate but it is Kevin Bacon that steals the film with a charismatic performance that he easily turns into menace – hardly his greatest performance but he makes more of it than others have in the past. Mazzello is a typical 'cute kid' American actor but he is good enough for this material and he is pretty good in the first half when he is given the material. Reilly and Bratt add some well-known faces to the mix but really neither has that much to do.

Overall this is not a great film but it is good enough to be worth seeing once. The action is not typical for this genre and the novelty value of it makes it seem more interesting. The film looks good and it is tense enough to do the job while the plot gets past the slow start to deliver an interesting set up and a solid enough series of set pieces with a good cast and director onboard (sorry!).

Meryl Streep gets a totally different kind of role in "The River Wild". She and her husband (David Strathairn) and son (Joseph Mazzello, of "Jurassic Park") go on a rafting trip and encounter some guys (Kevin Bacon and John C. Reilly) who turn out to be not what they seem.

The obvious similarity is "Deliverance", but I also detected a similarity to "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle", the way that Kevin Bacon's character turns the boy against the mother. I once did a boat trip down the Snake River, and some of the rapids here look like what I remember (although the movie may have exaggerated the rapids).

Overall, it's a pretty fun movie. A real jolt of nature, if I may say so. Also starring Benjamin Bratt. Director Curtis Hanson also directed "L.A. Confidential", "Wonder Boys" and "8 Mile".

River Wild is not really great or thrilling, but it's very entertaining due to the good acting by the entire cast and the beautiful nature scenery. I thought the relationships between all the characters and how they gradually change was the most believable and interesting part. How Kevin Bacon's character first strikes a bonding with the son, in order to win Meryl Streep's trust, and how this friendly atmosphere slowly glides to threat was very realistic. The only really annoying scene was the last one, where one police officer asks the son "What did your father do?", to which he replies "My father saved our lives". What a heroic, pathetic conversation after having survived such a life-threatening nightmare! All in all, this movie is recommendable, but you shouldn't expect too much.

Curtis Hanson's box office hit 'The River Wild' is well-shot and even gripping in parts, but what really stands tall in this thriller and balances the film even when it dips, are the performances by it's talented star-cast.

The story involves a family on a whitewater rafting trip, who encounter two violent criminals in the wilderness.

'The River Wild', which has been written by Denis O'Neill, offers some gripping moments, that truly manage to hold your attention. The characters, are nicely presented and executed. But, I would like to point out, that, the writing in the latter hour tends to drag a bit. The film surely could've been shorter by at least 10-15 minutes. And I believe if it had been trimmed, it's impact would have only enhanced. Curtis Hanson's direction, like always, is efficient. Cinematography is Striking. Editing is fair.

Performance-Wise: Meryl Streep is superb, as expected. She carries the film on her shoulders and delivers with ease in each and every scene. Kevin Bacon makes a really interesting bad guy, and proves his potential as an actor. David Strathaim is first-rate. John C. Reilly is good. Joseph Mazzello supports well.

On the whole, A decent one-time watch, that offers strong performances to sail it safe.

I watched The River Wild mainly for two reasons. The first one was incredibly talented young actor named Joseph Mazello, while the second was Kevin Bacon, also very good and underrated actor in my opinion. I expected just an average thriller or something like that but this movie managed to surpass my expectations. Though it wasn't a great or Oscar-worthy movie I found The River Wild mostly good and entertained, worth seeing movie. The story is concentrated on average dysfunctional family with workaholic father, who have almost lost a contact with his wife and two kids. They undertake a raft journey on vacation to celebrate their eldest son, Rourke birthday and in the same time trying to save their dying marriage. This at first calm and beautiful journey gets unexpectedly dangerous when the family meet on their way two strangers (played by Kevin Bacon and John C.Reilly), who also for their own reasons go to a journey with the same route. The story is not flawless and has some plot holes but overall it's not bad written. Well, maybe it's quite predictable but I don't think that such predictability harmed the movie too much. The acting overall was pretty good. To my surprise somehow happened that Meryl Streep became a weakest part in this excellent cast ensemble. I think she was a bit unconvincing as careful mother as well as a strong rafter. Another problem is that her character (Gail) is not developed as much as the movie needs it. For unknown reasons she got even a Golden Globe nomination for this movie but anyway The River Wild definitely is not among her best works. David Straithairn is much better playing Gail's husband and Roarke's father. Kevin Bacon is brilliant as evil, psychotic villain, while John C.Reilly gave decent performance of his diffident, weak-willed sidekick. And finally Joseph Mazello, the most talented actor among entire casts in the movie. His part didn't give him many opportunities to show his talent but in those short moments his acting was beautiful and he was able to overshadow others. Despite all these very good performances the most exceptional thing about The River Wild is not the good acting but a beautiful scenery and excellent cinematography that have captured it. Even only this terrific scenery, filmed somewhere in Oregon, is enough to make this movie worth seeing. It's simply beyond my words. Finally, it is worth to mention nice score, written by Jerry Goldmith, with excellent main theme.

In the conclusion The River Wild is not great but quite a good movie, with good casts, acting and one of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. My grade 7,5 or B.