The Reivers
The Reivers
PG-13 | 25 December 1969 (USA)
The Reivers Trailers

In turn-of-the-century Mississippi, an 11-year-old boy comes of age as two mischievous adult friends talk him into sneaking the family car out for a trip to Memphis and a series of adventures.

Reviews
Interesteg What makes it different from others?
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.
Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
mike48128 Actually a 9.5 due to a bit of very minor bloodshed (a knife fight between Lucius and a 15-year old boy), some cuss words and the "N" word. Otherwise, almost "Pollyannish" but with a slightly rougher edge. (A few "adult" situations, as part of it takes place in a "whore" house!) "The Reivers" ("river pirates") is a coming of age adventure story, set in (circa) 1905 Mississippi. The three "Reivers" are Ned (Rupert Crose), Boon (Steve McQueen) and 11 year old Lucius (Mitch Vogal) Also starring Sharon Ferrell as Corrie and Will Geer as "Boss". Music by John Williams and novel narration by Burgess Meredith. Superb cinematography. Fine period locations, sets and costumes. Just beautifully done. Also one of Steve McQueen's best comedy films. "A bumpy automobile journey" by a 1905 Winton Flyer to Memphis, involving a beautiful prostitute and a "spellbinding" horse race. (Comments from the DVD cover) (The horse loves sardines!) From a great novel by William Faulker. Most enjoyable. Worth watching and worth owning. Some drama, but a lot of good humor as well. Quite "respectful" of the black actors. It portrays them as real, honest people and not stereotypes. Not suitable at all for children under 13. (See the 1st two lines of this review.) Often with "edited dialog" and a shorter knife scene for cable, which really improves the movie quite a bit for a younger audience.
zpzjones This is an enjoyable old fashion type of adventure they just wont make anymore outside of a Disney adaptation. It's based on a William Faulkner story, his last I believe, and may be slightly autobiographical. I always saw this movie on television in the 70s & 80s and didn't realize so much of the film was cut and watered down for TV. The video VHS/ or DVD is much more complete and has more uncensored dialogue as well as including excised TV scenes such as when the trio arrives at the 'bordello' and Lucius is introduced. While the movie takes on a Disney or Hallmark heritage type of look it is not that. It is much more mature with spicy dialogue as mentioned and mature scenes that round out a longer running time. One thing I noticed is that this movie hails from 1969 when certain sexual situations were now being allowed in American productions. This movie reflects this change, while being basically family fare it 'just' escaped an R rating presumably as the MPAA system was still new and unfamiliar with how to rate certain subject matter. If this movie had been made just four or five years before it no doubt would have captured the rural early 20th century innocence familiar to Faulkner but the sexual situations, which make the story more believable, wouldn't have been included. Alas this is a great movie to have in your collection to take out and view when you're lonely and want something to look at or if it's raining outside. ***1/2 stars and it deserves to be much more well known than it is.
ccthemovieman-1 This turned out to be a very nice story, almost an old-fashioned type of film, based on an old William Faulkner novel.The only difference between this an an earlier classic movie of this nature was a bit of profanity, but it was 1969 and that stuff was now allowed in films. However, there wasn't a lot of it and the characters are decent people, anything but profane. However, the main character, played by Steve McQueen, wasn't exactly the best role model, teaching his young son how to lie and then taking him to a "house of ill repute." Other than that, he's a good guy and the film does end on a high note as the young boy (played well by Mitch Vogel) learns a hard lesson about lying.I haven't seen this film in awhile but I remember the wonderful yellow automobile in here. Wow, what a beautiful car. There is an interesting horse race in here, too, with a different twist to it.In all, a nice movie with good messages in the last half hour after what looked like a film that was a shaky morally. There's some nice photography in here, too. This film is decent enough for one viewing but probably not to purchase for multiple screenings.
NC Lyle (lyle-12) I personally rank this film, based on William Faulkner's last novel, among my favorites. Not that I would rank it as a "great" film, but it's a lot of fun. It's true that McQueen may have been in fact older than his character was supposed to be, but his attitude and style seems to bring it off. Mitch Vogel, as the young boy Lucius, who is lured into stealing his grandfather's (Will Geer) new Winton Flyer automobile for a wild weekend in Memphis by Boone Hoggenbeck (McQueen) is completely believable as a kid who wants the adventure, but has to be drawn into it because he respects his grandfather so much. Rupert Crosse as McQueen's other reiver (thief) in this caper adds an extra comic relief as the one who gets them into a real fix in Memphis. Ordinarily I hate movies with running narration, but the narration in this by Burgess Meredith as the grown old Lucius, remembering his exciting weekend in Memphis, adds a real touch of poignancy to this tale of youth lost. Additionally, Sharon Farrell as McQueen's prostitute girlfriend, Clifton James as a vicious southern sheriff, and Juano Hernandez as a kindly old black farmer add real dimension to the film. Throw in a beautiful score by John Williams (his first film score) and you've got the makings of a warm, charming story, accurately drawn, from the turn of the century. The scene at the film's end, where the grandfather has a heart-to-heart talk with the boy, is wonderful, and very "authentic." The director, Mark Rydell, did a terrific job. I've seen this movie many times, and it never fails to entertain me.
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