The River Wild (B+ or 3/4 stars)
Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon & David Strathairn star in director Curtis Hanson's stellar 1994 action/adventure thriller, 'The River Wild'. It is the 10th birthday for Roarke Hartman (Joseph Mazzello, from Jurassic Park), & his Boston-based mom, Gail (Meryl Streep), has agreed to take him white water rafting on the Salmon River in Idaho to celebrate; pet dog Maggie will come along. She knows the territory quite well; having spent years working as a raft guide. Workaholic architect dad, Tom (David Strathairn), only comes along after his guilty conscience kicks-in; the husband-wife are in a struggling marriage due to his always working.
Also on the river are Wade (Kevin Bacon) & Terry (John C. Reilly), a pair of unskilled rafters who have 'supposedly' lost their guide. Gail, not wanting to leave them stranded some 5 days from civilization, agrees to let them join her party. Annoyed that Roarke has taken to Wade as a sort of father figure, Tom's jealousy & concern + Gail's increasing distrust of the pair grows; especially when Wade shows Roarke a 'really cool' loaded gun. Turns out ... Wade & Terry are escaped armed robbers and, Wade is particularly psychotic. From that point, as the river rages, the narrative moves in a very sinister direction, and the Boston family are taken hostage with lives at stake.
'The River Wild' has a fair share of tense & intense moments. The plot, itself, is a little underwhelming, but there is enough action, visual panache & sturdy acting to keep audiences thoroughly involved. Meryl Streep gets to inhabit the strong female action hero role and is fantastic as the capable, loving mother, wife & outdoor-savvy woman who is thrown into a tailspin by the villains. But watching her navigate the complexity of the dire situations & stay tough is something to behold. Kevin Bacon excels as the relentlessly terrorizing baddie Wade, playing total opposite to his typical nice guy persona. David Strathairn {who would be SO good in 1995's Dolores Claiborne}, Joseph Mazzello, & Benjamin Bratt bring humanity to their roles, as well.
Top-notch production values, such as Robert Elswit's expansive landscape/water rapid cinematography & an appropriately edgy music score from Jerry Goldsmith aid the proceedings well. The 'thriller' structure here is familiar, but the results present a welcomed freshness to the genre. As mentioned, the script could be better {plotline, dialogue, some minor implausibilities, etc.}, but 'The River Wild' offers more than enough visceral moments & mainstream excitement to entertain the masses.
Also on the river are Wade (Kevin Bacon) & Terry (John C. Reilly), a pair of unskilled rafters who have 'supposedly' lost their guide. Gail, not wanting to leave them stranded some 5 days from civilization, agrees to let them join her party. Annoyed that Roarke has taken to Wade as a sort of father figure, Tom's jealousy & concern + Gail's increasing distrust of the pair grows; especially when Wade shows Roarke a 'really cool' loaded gun. Turns out ... Wade & Terry are escaped armed robbers and, Wade is particularly psychotic. From that point, as the river rages, the narrative moves in a very sinister direction, and the Boston family are taken hostage with lives at stake.
'The River Wild' has a fair share of tense & intense moments. The plot, itself, is a little underwhelming, but there is enough action, visual panache & sturdy acting to keep audiences thoroughly involved. Meryl Streep gets to inhabit the strong female action hero role and is fantastic as the capable, loving mother, wife & outdoor-savvy woman who is thrown into a tailspin by the villains. But watching her navigate the complexity of the dire situations & stay tough is something to behold. Kevin Bacon excels as the relentlessly terrorizing baddie Wade, playing total opposite to his typical nice guy persona. David Strathairn {who would be SO good in 1995's Dolores Claiborne}, Joseph Mazzello, & Benjamin Bratt bring humanity to their roles, as well.
Top-notch production values, such as Robert Elswit's expansive landscape/water rapid cinematography & an appropriately edgy music score from Jerry Goldsmith aid the proceedings well. The 'thriller' structure here is familiar, but the results present a welcomed freshness to the genre. As mentioned, the script could be better {plotline, dialogue, some minor implausibilities, etc.}, but 'The River Wild' offers more than enough visceral moments & mainstream excitement to entertain the masses.