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The River Rat

Play trailer Poster for The River Rat PG Released Sep 28, 1984 1h 34m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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After serving more than a decade behind bars as an innocent man, Billy (Tommy Lee Jones) returns home to connect with his teenage daughter, Jonsy (Martha Plimpton), a sassy girl with no intention of letting him simply stroll into her life. Still, Billy is determined to be a real father, and he involves her in a project restoring a boat, during which the two finally bond. When they run across the corrupt Doc Cole (Brian Dennehy), they must work together to keep Billy from returning to prison.
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The River Rat

Audience Reviews

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ann o Awesome movie! Great story, well written, effective if small cast. Martha Plimpton turns in an amazing performance - only her second film - and she and TLJ (nevermind the little Wexel character) just have a great chemistry. This is just an absolute diamond. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member one of Tommy Lee Jones best movie... simply a must see Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member pretty good under-rated flick Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting film. It was good enough to keep my attention. The acting is actually terrific. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member I don't know if many people have seen this one but it is so good and worth checking out. I wish it would be on tv here lately or at least find it to buy it. martha plimpton and tommy lee jones have natural believable chemistry as father and daughter. compelling plot with tender moments and some humor add up to an interesting movie. martha plimpton is also very believable as a tomboy. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Loveit need to be put on dvd. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The River Rat

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The River Rat

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Movie Info

Synopsis After serving more than a decade behind bars as an innocent man, Billy (Tommy Lee Jones) returns home to connect with his teenage daughter, Jonsy (Martha Plimpton), a sassy girl with no intention of letting him simply stroll into her life. Still, Billy is determined to be a real father, and he involves her in a project restoring a boat, during which the two finally bond. When they run across the corrupt Doc Cole (Brian Dennehy), they must work together to keep Billy from returning to prison.
Director
Thomas Rickman
Producer
Bob Larson
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 28, 1984, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 5, 2017
Runtime
1h 34m
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