Highly Overrated But Still Good

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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.

It's hard to believe Steve McQueen turned down the roll of Sundance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid simply because he would have been billed second behind Paul Newman. Oh the enormous egos of Hollywood. Instead, he accepted this film which is rather forgettable judging by the lack of reviews on IMDb.He constantly fought with the director, walked off the set, and even demanded the director be fired from the project. The studio refused. Ego somewhat back in check Steve finished the film.It's a simple coming of age story based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by William Faulkner. Plenty of character actors do their best to carry the load but it's ruined by McQueen's constant overacting.A couple of highlights were the early score by John Williams and the excellent photography, but neither were enough to give this anything better than a so-so rating. Best to read the book instead.

Having read the novel itself, I can confidently say that this film is as faithful an adaptation as one could expect. Given the nature of Faulkner's prose and the average length of a feature film, I really don't know how one could hold out for anything better. The basic storyline is fully represented, and the amount of license taken is quite trivial. This is probably Faulkner's only attempt at a real comedy, and that is what this film reproduces. Purists may disagree, but I have no sympathy for them. They are the architects of their own frustrations. I would caution families, however, that the PG-13 rating is fully warranted, and I would not deem it appropriate for my own children when they were below that age. Car stealing, lying to family, whore mongering, and gambling on horses are not good examples of conduct, and although the story teaches a valid lesson about growing up, I do not think that most children under 13 need to be exposed to much of it. Better that they, like the 11-year-old Lucius, retain their innocence unless they are precocious enough to understand the consequences of such behavior, which many adult-age children today still are not.

This was a great film written by the famous writer William Faulkner dealing with an old man going back to his youth sixty years ago. Steve McQueen, (Boon Hogganbeck) along with a few of his friends decided to take a trip from Mississippi to Memphis in an old time car which was relatively new during this period of time and taking along a very young boy named Lucius, (Mitch Vogel). Boon takes Lucius into a brothel where he stays over night in Memphis and learns a great deal about the birds and the bees and especially from a sweet kind lady named Carrie, (Sharon Farrell) who is a gal very much in love with Boon. There is a horse race and lots of laughs and drama to go along with the rest of the picture. There was a great deal of problems between the director of this film Mark Rydell and Steve McQueen, but the film was finally completed but the producer would never direct another picture with McQueen.