The River Movie Review 1984

Farmers battle a river whose flood threatens their farm. Spacek, as always, is strong and believable as the wife and mother, but Gibson falters. Beautiful photography. The third in an onslaught of films in the early '80s that dramatized the plight of the small American farmer. "The River" isn't as strong as "Country" and "Places in the Heart" which managed to convey important messages less cloyingly.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 124 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

A River Runs Through the Plot, Farm Livin', Flood

Screenplay

Julian Barry, Robert Dillon

Cast

Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek, Scott Glenn, Billy Green Bush

Cinematography

Vilmos Zsigmond

Director

Mark Rydell

Music

John Williams

Producer

Mark Huffam