THE RIVER WILD

In 1994, Meryl Streep took on the action/adventure genre with The River Wild. This is the story of a family outing gone extremely wrong.

The scenery is stupendous as we follow the Hartman family on their rafting trip down the Salmon River in Idaho. Gail Hartman (Streep) is a former river guide who has been down this route before. She is accompanied by her husband Tom (David Straithairn), son Roarke (Joseph Mazzello), and their dog Maggie. Along their journey, they offer to help Wade (Kevin Bacon) and Terry (John C Reilly), two other rafters who have lost their guide. As this arrangement begins to become uncomfortable for the Hartmans, it is not long before they find themselves kidnapped and forced into accompanying these two gentlemen’s elaborate plan for a getaway from a robbery they recently committed.

The story’s pacing is engaging, and the acting is commendable (Bacon and Streep are excellent in roles that require them to slowly peel away more and more of who they are at their core). The film offers some wonderful escapism but it’s also ladened with contrivances that become annoying. How many times can Tom be pushed into the water or jump into the water and not eventually lose his glasses? Isn’t it convenient that Gail’s parents are deaf, so her family is able to communicate in this stressful time using sign language?

This a formulaic drama where the protagonists believe that they alone are the only ones capable of overcoming their antagonists, and how they accomplish this requires some suspension of belief. As escapism, The River Wild is a highly enjoyable romp. It’s a romp I’m glad I experienced, but probably not a romp I choose to experience again.