Purely Joyful Movie!

Expected more

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

There is perhaps no better illustration of poetry in motion than the fluid rhythm of casting a fly fisherman's rod. The scenes of Reverend Maclean (Tom Skerritt) and his sons Norman (Craig Sheffer) and Paul (Brad Pitt) fly fishing in the Big Blackfoot had an almost hypnotic effect on this viewer; if only I could pursue the art of casting a fly rod with such grace. The story will resonate with those affected by father/son relationships, and possibly even more for anyone who has, or had, a brother who meant as much to them as Norman and Paul did for each other in this film. It wasn't until I finished watching this movie that I found out it was based on the real life story of Norman Maclean, an American author and scholar who published a book under the same title as the picture ('A River Runs Through It and Other Stories').With Robert Redford helming the movie as director, I couldn't help notice a number of scenes in which Brad Pitt resembled the iconic actor using Redford's charm and mannerisms. Redford himself would have been ideal in the role of Paul Maclean had the picture been made some three decades earlier. In one of his earliest starring film roles, Pitt exudes the charisma and charm that would eventually make him a celebrity and star of the first order.There is some irony in Paul's statement to brother Norman as quoted in my summary line above. Vowing never to leave Montana following Norman's invitation to move to Chicago with him and his new wife, Paul's demons eventually caught up with him to insure that his vow would be fulfilled. What led to Paul's death can be conjectured from the type of life he led and the type of people he became indebted to, leaving unresolved the relationship he shared earlier in the story with an Indian girl. Taken in it's entirety, "A River Runs Through It" is as much a testament to Paul's short life as it is to his older brother's.

These are the titles which gets lost among the fast paced super hero movies. Such beautiful scenes and even more beautiful characters. It's a story of hope, love, and simple but meaningful lives; the story of two brothers, them growing up, taking different paths, and getting together one last time with their dad to fly-fish. I'm sure most of us could relate to fond memories in the past, and no matter how different your life may have been, this movie will take you right back in time. It is definitely for old souls like myself, which I'm quite certain that most would have given up after one look at the title. Hence the low reviews. Truly a must watch for all ages. Family is everything!

Very good Robert Redford film dealing with a strict minister and his children. The latter grow up and the younger son, a reporter, has a lust for drinking and gambling which cause his ultimate downfall.Tom Skerritt is excellent as the stern minister dad. He comes to see nature as part of his religious training and emphasizes the sport of fly fishing to his young charges.Time periods seem to go very quickly in the film, such as the older boy attending Dartmouth.The usually feisty Brenda Blethyn has a rather benign part as the mother of the two boys. Besides her, I would have liked to have seen more of a character study of Jesse's brother, smitten with Hollywood and a drunk as well. Did he show homosexual tendencies?The nostalgic ending was terrific as we returned to nature to exhibit our values.

Suspense abound! Not quite, but this adaption of Norman Maclean's short story drama certainly has plenty of emotion to it. Sticking closely enough to the source novel, the film doesn't seem to sacrifice much from the novel for a more entertaining film. Instead, being able to see in the film what the novel vaguely describes helps much in getting everything out of the story. It's clear the novel meant something for someone, as there weren't many times where the movie strayed from the book, only at a few points it adds new things to the story. The changes it does make generally aren't very important, in one such case, Norm having already known Jesse in the book is turned into a brief subplot where he meets and builds a relationship with her. It's not as in other films, where they take the name, and make an entirely unrelated story out of it. The film looks exactly how the book described. The setting of the story feels looks how it was described in the novel, feeling like that Montana the characters talked about. There isn't excessive special effects, everything for the most part looks natural, and convincing. It's not as if it's a film needed many effects, but it's nice to see how the film wasn't covered in unneeded effects just to make it look more interesting, at the expense of story, like other films.Perhaps the most important thing the movie has going for it is the acting. Starring Craig Scheffer as Norm, and Brad Pitt as his brother Paul, these actors portray the two biggest characters rather accurately. Along with Tom Skerritt as their reverend father, the actors look the part, and make convincing enough brothers. Together, they make the film more compelling, being able to pull off Norm's concerned, wiser personality, and Paul's tough guy personality pretty well.Overall, the film is well acted, fairly well paced, and good looking. It doesn't make us suffer through the long descriptions of fly fishing that the novel did, instead maintaining fly fishing's importance to the story without doing that. The most unusual thing about this film is that it's superior to the source novel. Any film accomplishing such a feat deserves much respect.