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The River

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The River

PG-13

Released Dec 19, 1984

2h 4m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

27%

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22 Reviews

49%

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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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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

The River is nothing more than a conventional, albeit pretty, melodrama.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 17, 2020

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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steve d

really melodramatic and not at all interesting.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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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

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Audience Member

Great mainstream depiction of farmers' crisis in mid-80's.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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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

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Audience Member

Farmer fights floods to save his farm in this melodrama.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Mark Rydell

Director

Mel Gibson

Tom Garvey

Sissy Spacek

Mae Garvey

Scott Glenn

Joe Wade

Shane Bailey

Lewis Garvey

Becky Jo Lynch

Beth Garvey

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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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