Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      The River

      PG-13 Released Dec 19, 1984 2h 4m Drama List
      24% 21 Reviews Tomatometer 49% 5,000+ Ratings Audience Score Tom and Mae Garvey (Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek) are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer (Scott Glenn) and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children (Shane Bailey, Becky Jo Lynch) and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered May 14 Buy Now

      Where to Watch

      The River

      Fandango at Home Prime Video Netflix

      Watch The River with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

      Audience Reviews

      View All (67) audience reviews
      steve d really melodramatic and not at all interesting. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Here's the basic problem with this film. At its core it's about how a community adapts to intensive flooding and plummeting land prices. To represent this there are two men: one who wants to rebuild and improve the local economy by buying out ruined farmland and putting in a hydroelectric power station which will provide local jobs and prevent such wide-scale flooding, and a stubborn farmer who insists on keeping his failing farm and disrupting the community's plans for improvement. And guess which one's the hero? Honestly, this film has a real struggle with distinguishing nobility from mere surface details. While obstinacy can be noble it isn't inherently virtuous unless in service of a cause worthy of the fight. And this fight is just a matter of pride and an inability to adapt to changing circumstances. Because the film chooses to see all lost causes as virtuous (and in a not particularly subtle piece of symbolism the Confederate flag is displayed prominently several times) we're given a paean to stupidity over common sense and rational planning. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Great mainstream depiction of farmers' crisis in mid-80's. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Solid film about a family farm threatened to be lost first to severe flooding and later to a dam being push by a local businessman. Good cast helps. I couldn't help but think if the flooding is that bad on two occasions, it may be time to consider moving. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Farmer fights floods to save his farm in this melodrama. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member I guess I'm just not a fan of where Mel Gibson went in his career because with this and Mad Max just recently, he has surprised me how good he used to be in his early years. He does a great job as does Sissy Spacek. Great cinematography and sound design Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      More Like This

      View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
      45% 84% The Cure 76% 87% Fried Green Tomatoes 93% 80% Lorenzo's Oil 79% 90% Crooklyn 84% 75% Gorillas in the Mist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

      Photos

      View All The River photos

      The River

      The River (1984) The River (1984) The River (1984) The River (1984) The River (1984) The River (1984) View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (21) Critics Reviews
      Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune The River is nothing more than a conventional, albeit pretty, melodrama. Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 17, 2020 Full Review Bob Thomas Associated Press Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson suffer admirably as the farm couple, but their roles have no real dimension. Apr 17, 2020 Full Review Vincent Canby New York Times [The River] has a meticulously detailed physical production and, from time to time, is acted with passion by its cast. Yet its ideas are so profoundly muddled that the film must run mainly on sentimentality. Apr 17, 2020 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Of the three "save the farm" films that all appeared on the scene in 1984, The River places a distant third behind the superb Places in the Heart and the solid Country. Rated: 2/4 Aug 5, 2020 Full Review Candice Russell South Florida Sun-Sentinel The difficulty in seeing The River lies in part with its ill-timed release so soon after Places in the Heart and Country... Similarities aside, The River is the best of the three. Apr 17, 2020 Full Review Lawrence O'Toole Maclean's Magazine If all the exquisite visuals are not cloying enough, the audience must cope with the sweetness of Tom and Mae, two of the least interesting characters one is likely to encounter. Apr 17, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Tom and Mae Garvey (Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek) are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer (Scott Glenn) and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children (Shane Bailey, Becky Jo Lynch) and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
      Director
      Mark Rydell
      Screenwriter
      Robert Dillon
      Distributor
      Universal Pictures
      Production Co
      Universal Pictures
      Rating
      PG-13
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Dec 19, 1984, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Mar 5, 2016
      Runtime
      2h 4m
      Sound Mix
      Stereo, Surround
      Aspect Ratio
      35mm, Scope (2.35:1)
      Most Popular at Home Now