One of my all time favorites.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

"The River" tells the story of a family trying to hold on to their way of life in the face of insurmountable odds. The family initially faces a major threat from the river located next to their house, but then an even bigger threat from a businessman (Scott Glenn) who wants to build a dam and flood the valley.I wouldn't call "The River" a masterpiece, but it does a good job showing the family's desperation. The dad (Mel Gibson) accepts a questionable job, while the mom (Sissy Spacek) has an experience that's likely to make anyone squirm. Every step of the way there are all sorts of hazards, whether in the working conditions, in the terrain, or from the businessman and his cronies.This is a movie that goes for a lot of realism. The characters' bleak existence gets made clear through their unrefined looks. I recommend it.

"I saw the weary farmer, plowing sod and loam. I heard the auction hammer, knocking down his home. But the banks are made of marble, with a guard at every door, and the vaults are stuffed with silver, that the farmer sweated for." - Pete Seeger Mark Rydell's "The River" stars Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek as a pair of struggling farmers. Combating floodwaters, bankers, scheming capitalists and angry unionists, the duo desperately attempt to keep the family farm from foreclosure.John Steinbeck published "Grapes of Wrath" in 1939, turned into a film one year later by John Ford. In many ways, Rydell's film plays like a 1980s update of the aforementioned works. At its best, it conveys the insensitivity of power brokers and landowners, tests the assumptions about private property and class difference upon which our social order rests, and details the ease at which humans (with common interests and shared grievances) are divided into subsets and pitted against one another. Not as sophisticated as Elia Kazan's similarly themed "Wild River", "River" climaxes with our heroes saving their farm and "becoming rich". This hokey climax not only betrays the film's original ethos, but ultimately endorses the problems and pursuits it pretends to denounce. In "River", everything's fine so long as you make a profit at the end.Aesthetically, "River" offers a nice blend of 1980s Hollywood and early 20th century neo-realism. Part of a wave of big-budget "women's picture", and influenced by the ripples of second-wave feminism, the film features another wonderful performance from Spacek. Blending strength with fragility, beauty with plainness, her character endures the labours of motherhood, matrimony and agronomics. Mel Gibson, though photogenic, is miscast as Spacek's husband.7.9/10 – Underrated. See Ford's "Grapes of Wrath" and Ken Loach's "Bread and Roses".

The River features a decent portrayal of the harsh life of American farmers and delivers a fine message that stands as the epitome of genuine American virtues. It is the story of Tom Garvey (Mel Gibson) and his family. They cultivate land close to the banks of the Tennessee River and have to fight floods and financial crises while one of the local capitalists plans to build a reservoir and wants them to abandon their land. Tom and his wife Mae (Sissy Spacek) are unwilling to yield. They rather chose to continue their inhuman struggles and stick to the grounds of their ancestors. What follows is a desperate and almost destructive fight to survive against adversities that seem invincible.Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek are portrayed as a loving couple that would never back down. Despite mounting pressure and considerable setbacks it is a question of honor and integrity for them to hold on. Due to financial reasons, Tom takes a job as a factory worker and has to leave Mae with the work at home. Mae is a rugged but also very sensitive and determined woman. She is not as stubborn as her husband and does indeed show signs of wavering and despair. Yet she is as dogged as he is when it comes to defend their land and their family. This is where both get their strength from. Land and family. The most important values for Americans. As long as there is land, and as long as the family is intact, there is always hope. Whatever adversity is thrown upon you – natural or man-made – backing down is no option. The movie lives from this emotional and psychologically compelling commitment and brings these genuine American virtues to the fore with sincere authenticity and without glossing over the facts. The life of the family is portrayed in all its depressing hardships and stands as a symbol for the bold ambitions and the perseverance of the pioneers of the historical frontier. At the same time Tom and Mae embody natural virtues of not just Americans but all humans.Apart from the very obvious emphasis on courage and steadfastness, the movie provides visually intriguing sequences. The camera work is sublime and manages to capture at least some of the most picturesque images of the Tennessee River. The entire movie is shot on location in the Volunteer State along the banks of the great river. The scenes shot at night and during heavy rain are stunning and require substantial experience.The River is indeed more than an average movie. Its story is simple but compelling. The characters are decently portrayed and the message is both appealing and inspirational. Storyline developments are sometimes still too slow and some scenes are occasionally long-winded. It is a typical American movie, thus elaborating strongly on American issues and American virtues.

I recently rented this movie because I'm a Mel Gibson fan, but before I did, I read over the review by Leonard Maltin on these pages and found that his comment "but Gibson's character is so coldly stubborn that it's hard to empathize" regarding the character Tom Garvey was pretty harsh.This is not a man so stubborn you cannot empathize with him in the least. Harrison Ford's character in Mosquito Coast was such a man, but this guy is a good man trying to do what's right for himself and for his family and I didn't see him as cold either. Again, look to Mosquito Coast if you're looking for a father who's cold, TOO stubborn and unloving.If you want to see a good movie about farmers facing adversity from the weather and from their "neighbors" this is a good one to rent. Justly nominated for cinematography, it's a very pretty movie, although I'd have liked to see it on the big screen to get the full effects of the river shots. Sissy Spacek was of course excellent as well.