NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Muskrat36 Not a great film by any means, but what a river! The river is the true star, and I suppose you have to put that down to good photography and camera work. At no point in the film did I doubt that the people were actually in the boat, on the river, and in danger. There are few surprises. Nothing in the film is unexpected. I won't go as far as to tell you whether the family escaped the villains, or what happened to them, so you will have to find out for yourself. Meryl Streep's performance is adequate, but not exceptional, and occasionally annoying. I found myself wanting Kevin Bacon's character to shoot her on more than one occasion. There is a little tension generated by the fact that the criminal is more manly than the wimpy, hard working husband and inattentive father, but that is soon cleared up, and the sides are clearly drawn. The father eventually shows himself to have an alternative identity as some kind of Indian Super-Brave, smoke signals and everything. I kid you not. Worth watching if you want to watch a family film along Disney lines.

jackasstrange That is everything you'll get from this turd named 'The River Wild'. Awful piece of trash. Meryl Streep did very well, but for what? Character development was awful. I couldn't care for the characters any less, and everything was black and white (either good or villain). In the end I was rooting for Kevin Bacon's character, but since his character was also poorly built and unbelievably dumb I couldn't care less for him either. But calling his character dumb is not very fair. The whole film is about events that will challenge your mind, but not in a good way. I could start talking about how unconvincing the entire thing was, like, for example, how many times the family could've escaped from the bandits but didn't because of an utterly dumb move. And the Deus Ex Machine moments too. But would be a pointless exercise. There is also some cliché scenes that are cringe worthy. But pointless to go further. Just take my words for it. This film is a mess. Weird for a project with names such as Kevin Bacon, John C.Really and Meryl Streep in the cast. 4.6/10

FlashCallahan Gail is a professional at water rafting.She twigs every day, and she is in a very good shape. She takes her family, one day, to a rafting trip down the river, but she has no idea that the planned trip is about to become a nightmare.Two escaping robbers with a handgun, meet the family in the way, and join them to the trip.Only later Gail realises that their new friends are dangerous criminals, but it's too late.The two men force them to stay together, and to keep cruising down the river.The family's life are risked not only by the two men, but also by the river which becomes more stormy and wilder....Thefirst thing that you notice about this movie is that it's the first time since 'Aliens' that a woman has taken the lead in a Hollywood action movie. Streep is an odd choice, but as the heroine, she really brings a vulnerability to her character which makes her wholly believable.The story isn't up to much, but thanks to such good direction and brilliant rapid sequences, this becomes more than an average thriller.Bacon is as sinister as needed, but he too has his vulnerable side. Sub plots involving marriage break ups and Benjamin Bratt are an added bonus, and Joseph Mazello proves he wasn't a one trick pony in Jurassic park, he's just as annoying in this.It's a shame it's not a well remembered movie, because it is a thrilling movie with some wonderful performances.

sddavis63 I'll grant that the last 15 minutes or so of "The River Wild" are a pretty exciting and suspenseful white water rafting adventure. The unfortunate thing about it is that these are only the last 15 minutes or so. Up to that point what we have is a pretty slow moving river journey, with the added complication, of course, being that the troubled family on the trip finds more trouble as they pick up a couple of guys who robbed the local cattle auction. In the end the movie turns out to be pretty formulaic, with movements and plot points that we've definitely seen before - many times, in fact.Meryl Streep was an interesting choice as Gail - mother and white water guide - and while she was interesting (basically because this isn't what you'd think of as a normal Meryl Streep role) I didn't find her convincing in the part, either (which is probably why it's not a normal Meryl Streep role!) Kevin Bacon was somewhat more credible as Wade, the guy apparently in charge of the robbery, who decides to take the family hostage in order to use Gail's rafting expertise to run a particularly deadly river in the hopes of escaping the law. Along for the ride were David Strathairn as Gail's husband, John C. Reilly as Wade's sidekick and Joseph Mazzello as young Roarke, Gail's son.It's a decent enough cast. The story isn't especially original, though, and I just didn't find the movie to be all that exciting. Watching a rafting trip (which is essentially what we do for the bulk of this movie) with a few bits of drama thrown in as we become gradually more suspicious of the two strangers doesn't exactly make for a gripping two hours of viewing. There is, of course, the requisite ending as it seems that all the family's troubles are solved by having gone through this adventure together. (3/10)