Awesome Movie

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

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.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Mel Gibson isn't terribly convincing as a southern farmer and family man trying to hold onto his river-ravaged land; even when covered in soot and wearing overalls, everything about the young, wiry Gibson breathes prosperity. Corporate shady Scott Glenn (in a sleepwalking performance) wants Gibson and wife Sissy Spacek off their land in order to build a dam and flood the valley (it'll mean more jobs), but Gibson refuses to sell out. Sub-plot with Mel taking factory work (after crossing a picket line) is presumably meant to give us a more complete portrait of the man, but it just makes the character seem hard-headed. Upon opening with a lovely series of nature shots courtesy cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, director Mark Rydell immediately loses his footing with a sequence of contrived family action in a rainstorm (underlined by an awful John Williams score to heighten the drama, which has no pay-off). It's all downhill from there, with petulant, milky-skinned Gibson failing to match up with homespun Spacek, and two perky kids who keep playing to the camera. "The River" was released the same year as "Places in the Heart" and "Country", and was easily the weakest 'farm movie' of the lot. Glossy, superficial and dull. *1/2 from ****

Continuing my plan to watch every Mel Gibson movie in order, 8 come to his first American movie. 1984's The River.Plot In A Paragraph: Tom and Mae Garvey (Gibson and Sissy Spceck) struggle to keep their farm from the bank, floods and from local financer Joe Wade (Scott Glenn) who wants to buy up all the land, dam a local river which floods and generate some new jobs.The river was Gibson's first American movie, and he is fine, but is over shadowed by Spaceck and a strong supporting turn from Scott Glenn, who is effectively the movies villain, it is a funny movie as the "Bad Guy" is right all along and Gibson and Spaceck's characters should have listened to him!! He was talking good common sense!! And that's when you know it's a weird move!! If you are rooting for who is essentially the bad guy. It's watchable, but that's about it. The River grossed $11 million at the domestic box office to end the year the 72nd highest grossing movie of 1984.

From the opening sequence, you can tell this is a movie that is going to take it's time to tell a story, to introduce, and take you into this world. What begins as a gentle rain shower turns into a flood, as we are introduced to the Garveys, rushing about with shovels and bags, and a bulldozer, trying to save their farm from the rising water. They've done this before, we see, as Mae Garvey (Sissy Spacek) hands her daughter the "good quilt" to take upstairs, and gathers family photos and other irreplacables, putting them out of harm's way upstairs, and as they head outside into the weather again, we see the flood waters lapping at the back steps.The farm has been in Tom Garvey's (Mel Gibson) family for generations, so he's reluctant to sell up and leave, especially because the offer to buy comes from Joe Wade (Scott Glenn), Mae Garvey's former beau, who wants to flood the whole area (in the name of the Almighty Dollar) to build a hydroelectric plant.But times are indeed tough, and the bank is reluctant to loan any more money, which Tom and Mae desperately need to stay afloat. In desperation, Tom takes a job at an iron-works, but doesn't know until he gets there that he's part of a group of "scabs" brought in to work while the contractors of the iron works are on strike. Ripped away from the idyllic river-front farm, he is unable to leave, lest the contractors see him doing so, and beat him to death without a second thought. 4.50 an hour. 50 hour week. 10 minute "p*ss break" every two hours...you do the math...that's hard work! Meanwhile, "back on the farm", Mae has her own problems in a scene that still grips my gut to this day: fixing a piece of farm equipment hundreds of metres away from the farm house, she gets her arm trapped in a cog-and-chain, and is unable to free herself, plus she starts bleeding from the wound, really badly. I wasn't expecting such a nail-biting scene in such a seemingly placid film. It was really well done.Not only that, but she has the renewed attentions of Joe Wade to deal with as he plays "knight in shining armour" to the injured Mae while Tom is stuck at the factory, and lets her know in no uncertain terms that he wants her back, using the "I can look after your kids better than Tom" argument to try to convince her. While obviously the "what could have been" crosses her mind, she loves her husband, and tells Joe to back off.The scenes between Gibson and Spacek are great. They have some real chemistry and raw emotions you rarely see in films these days. Mel does a great "tough-guy exterior" thing when Joe gives Mae a ride home from the store, but as he comes on to Mae afterwards in the kitchen, we can tell that although he's doing it coz he's attracted to her, he is also doing it because her old flame just gave her a ride home.All the performances are great, and very real, from the townsfolk shouting "no sale!" at the auction to the grimy iron works factory workers, to Tom and Mae's kids (Shane Bailey and Becky Jo Lynch), who give startlingly believable performances.This film is a quiet one best watched in the evening, and with the lights off...the velvety cinematography and rich John Williams score will enrapture you from the start to the moving final scene. Someone else on here commented that the photography is like a beautiful old oil painting...I couldn't agree more. Enjoy.

Tom and Mae Garvey (Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek) are the owners of a small eastern Tennessee farm that has been in the Garvey family for generations. It is the early 1980s, when the staggering U.S. economy threatens the welfare of the American family farm. The Garveys' struggles are compounded by the fact that their property is in a flood plain, and by the enmity of Tom's rival Joe Wade (Scott Glenn), who is a wealthy and powerful foe. This is not lighthearted entertainment.For me, the film's most powerful moments come when cash-strapped Tom has to leave the farm to find work elsewhere. He unknowingly becomes a scab in a factory where the regular labor force is on strike. At least there is a regular paycheck, but the contrast between the man-made hell of a iron foundry/steel mill and the natural beauty of the family farm is compelling, and you can see why the Garveys struggle to hold on to their agricultural way of life, however hard it is. The cinematography for this movie is way above average, a celebration of rural America.Sissy Spacek delivers her usual fine performance. Mel Gibson is very good-- his Tennessee accent quite convincing. The two youngsters who play their children deserve special praise for their natural performances. This is a good, thoughtful movie-- not romantic, thrilling or exciting-- but one the family can watch together and think what sacrifices they would make to keep a heritage and a way of life preserved.