Name: Retro Film Review: The River Wild (1994)
Item: The River Wild
Rating: 70
Author: @drax

(source:tmdb.org)

In the last quarter of a century, Meryl Streep ceased to be an actress and instead became something of an institution for the American film industry. Her talent and ability to use it in many different ways brought her "Oscars" or "Oscar" nominations. They also created a strange image which is in many ways anti-Hollywood - due to her tendency to play difficult roles of extraordinary characters, Meryl Streep was supposed to play abandoned mistresses, cheated housewives, women struck with syphilis or poisoned by radiation, or Auschwitz survivors. Those roles guaranteed awards and prestige, but they also meant that the audience wouldn't leave theatres with smiles on their faces. Meryl Streep tried to fight those stereotypes with occasional forays into comedy, but her taking part in an action film was something quite unexpected. Most of the critics, especially those more snobbish, took this as a betrayal of "artistic integrity"; not having the nerve to attack Streep directly, they directed their venom at the film itself. This is an explanation of why The River Wild, a 1994 action film directed by Curtis Hanson, received so little praise among critics.

In this film, Meryl Streep plays Gail, a woman who grew up around the Snake River and spent much of her early years as a white-water rafter and river guide. Years later, she lives in Boston with two children, while Tom (played by David Strathairn), her workaholic husband, has less and less time to spend with his family. That involves even the great raft trip to Gail's parents' home - an adventure Gail had planned for the 10th birthday of her son Roarke (played by Joseph Mazzello). Tom joins the expedition at the last minute, and down the river, the three of them encounter another raft carrying two men – Wade (played by Kevin Bacon) and Terry (William C. Reilly) - who don't seem to have a clue how to survive on the rapids. Gail volunteers to help them on their trip. She would regret that decision, because those two men aren't what they claim to be.

As a family-friendly action adventure, The River Wild doesn't break any of the rules contemporary Hollywood had established for that genre. What little characterisation fills the blanks between action scenes in Dennis O'Neill's script is there only to promote family values. That doesn't prevent the actors from making the most of the characters and making them memorable. Streep, Strathairn and Mazzello would make the viewers care about the characters and feel frightened for their well-being when they encounter the villains. What is even more interesting about the characters is their intelligence - all of them, heroes and villains, act reasonably and have good justifications for their actions; unlike in many Hollywood products of same category, characters won't behave like idiots in order to conform to clichés or rescue scriptwriters from writers' block. Only the ending, which is a little bit too tidy and too predictable, challenges that perception.

To say that the acting in this film is very good is an understatement. Meryl Streep invested a great deal of talent and energy in her role; she did most of her stunts and almost died during the shooting. The result of such efforts is simply wonderful - while her character of a housewife/adrenaline junkie might be somewhat hard to fathom on paper, Streep makes it quite believable. Even the most prosaic scenes are an excellent opportunity for Streep to display a wide range of emotions, and that opportunity is never missed. David Strathairn is also excellent in the role of a clueless yuppie forced with some difficult challenges. Kevin Bacon is also more than effective in the role of a psychopath who shows that evil can be accompanied by charm and intelligence. Good acting in the film is matched by Curtis Hanson's capable direction. Robert Elswit's photography effectively captures the natural beauty of the American Northwest, while Jerry Goldsmith provides another of his great musical scores. The River Wild is not going to be among the best known entries in Meryl Streep's filmography, but it is an entertaining piece of Hollywood craftsmanship that would satisfy even those viewers who aren't fans of the great actress.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on December 29th 2003)