A farming family battles severe storms, while taking a valiant stand against a bank foreclosure and a powerful land grabber.
Cast:
- Sissy Spacek as Mae Garvey
- Mel Gibson as Tom Garvey
- Shane Bailey as Lewis Garvey
- Becky Jo Lynch as Beth Garvey
- Scott Glenn as Joe Wade
1984 memories
Someone in my house rented this, most likely my dad. When I watched it back in 1984 I thought it was OK. Some of the more adult themes of job loss and bankruptcy didn’t quite connect with me back then.
Let’s see how Mad Max on the farm looks after forty years…
40th Anniversary Re-watch
Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek star as Tom and Mae Garvey, a Tennessee farmer and his wife. Tom is trying to save his farm during an economic downturn. The farmland is on a floodplain and is constantly flooding out the crops.
Local mill owner, Joe Wade (Scott Glenn) is trying to buy up the farmland in order to build a hydroelectric dam. Tom, of course refuses to sell his land.
Still in danger of losing the farm to the bank, Tom takes a job at a steel factory as a strikebreaker. He’s able to work until the strike ends and then he returns to the farm.
Tom’s refusal to sell his farm inspires other farmers to help him build a levee to keep the river at bay. However, Wade shows up with hired help to destroy the levee. The levee is destroyed and Tom jumps in with sandbags to try and rebuild it.
His family rushes in to help as well as some of the the other farmers. Wade leaves defeated and Tom rebuilds the levee and harvests a bumper crop.
I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. I’m a big Mel Gibson fan and he does a great job as Tom. He does an even better job of hiding his Australian accent! His character is believable in his steadfast refusal to sell the farm. Even if it is a bit naive. I grew up in the Midwest and understand trying to avoid selling a family farm and keeping it going. In the 80s there were a lot of farms that had to sell out to the bigger corporations.
Scott Glenn was good as the slimy businessman trying to steal, eh, purchase, the farmland. He was a in a lot of great movies in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Sissy Spacek was great in the movie as Gibson’s wife. She was even nominated for an Academy Award. In fact, The River was nominated for a total of for Academy Awards; Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Sound. The River didn’t win any Oscars it was nominated for but did receive a special Oscar for sound effects editing.
Favorite Line:
Sooner or later there’s gonna be too much rain
John Williams composed the score for The River, which is excellent. He was nominated for two Best Original Score Oscars in 1984, the other was for Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, he didn’t win either. Ultimately the Best Original Score Oscar went to A Passage to India.
There were two other movies in 1984 with the same basic plot, a family trying to save their farm. Country starring Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard and Places in the Heart starring Sally Fields and Ed Harris. Places is the Heart was the most successful of the three.
The River doesn’t get much love from critics but I enjoyed it and think it is worth watching. It comes in around 2 hours, if you have the time, give it a shot. If nothing else watch it for the score and the beautiful cinematography.
The River was released on 19 December 1984. It wasn’t successful at the box office, making $11.5 million on a $18 million budget.
Did you watch The River? If so let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on X(Twitter). The main Geekster channel is @GeeksterMedia and I’m @MileHighSamurai You can also find me on Bluesky @MileHighSamurai
7/10 stars
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