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The River

Play trailer Poster for The River PG-13 Released Dec 19, 1984 2h 4m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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27% Tomatometer 22 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
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.
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The River

Critics Reviews

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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 Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap A flop when it came out 40 years ago with a purportedly miscast Mel Gibson, Mark Rydell's unironic look at struggling Tennessee farmers deserves a reappraisal. Rated: 4/5 Sep 16, 2024 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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jelisije J A nice well made movie about a farmer and his family living in a town where everyone is struggling to survive and is battling his wife former love interest who is trying to buy his land to make way to end a river so he can make a dam......not the most interesting or well paced story that you will watch or even want to rewatch. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/06/24 Full Review 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 Read all reviews
The River

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The River

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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)
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