THE RIVER WILD

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: language, violence, thematic elements

Rated:

White water rafting lures thousands of people to my home state every year. There's nothing more exciting than strapping on a life jacket, hopping into a rubber boat, and hanging on while your guide takes you through a fast current, around treacherous rocks and down small waterfalls, before you stumble out at the end of the tour and kiss the ground, happy to be home safe and sound.

Rafting is the primary passion of Gail (Meryl Streep), who grew up in the wilds and was a guide for a summer or two at seventeen, when she risked life and limb going down the "gauntlet," the most dangerous stretch of white water on the tour. Now married and with two small children, she only gets to return to her first love, the river, on the occasional family vacation. With her marriage to a talented architect on the rocks, she fears divorce may loom around the next bend. Preparing to take her son Roarke (Joseph Mazzello) down river one last time before civilization erodes away all her childhood memories, she is pleasantly surprised to find that her workaholic husband Tom (David Strathairn) has decided to join them. Leaving their daughter with her grandparents, the Hartmans drift lazily down the river, fishing and camping along with their faithful dog Maggie.

They are soon joined by another group of rafters. Wade (Kevin Bacon) says their friend and tour guide stormed off into the woods and never came back, so he wrongfully assumed they could make it downriver without him. Rather than letting them hike the twenty or so miles back to the ranger's station, Gail agrees to help them forge through the rough water. Roarke is immediately fascinated with Wade and his companion, but Tom has increasing doubts as to the men's intentions. When a series of seemingly insignificant but sinister events cause him to become suspicious, their fun family vacation transforms into a violent nightmare.

For an action film there is surprising restraint shown by the filmmakers. There is some language, but not nearly the amount I expected for the genre. There are two uses of GD, and other mild abuses of deity. A gun is used to threaten and occasionally shoot people. A ranger is shot in the chest and then thrown into the river to drown. Another is shot and killed. A man falls from a great height and lands in the river (he's unharmed). Wade brutally punches and kicks Tom while his partner restrains Gail in the background. He also slaps Roarke for speaking out of turn. It's implied that a body might be buried in the woods. Tom is shot at on several occasions, along with the family dog (she escapes). The raft overturns and people are thrown off; one man nearly drowns. Gail goes skinny dipping in a hot spring, but no nudity is shown. Wade, however, is caught watching her. Wade indirectly implies that he could rape Gail if he wanted to, and she tells him to go ahead and try it. He doesn't.

The intensity between Gail and Wade is fabulous. There's a slight attraction that turns exceedingly dark and provides a nice layer of malevolency as the plot moves forward. The film is rather like the river, drifting quietly along before rolling into white water, allowing tension to build. But even in the quiet moments the audience has a sense of foreboding, since we all know  Wade is not what he appears. It is apparent early on that Gail and Tom's relationship will be strengthened by what they are forced to endure, but nevertheless it's a nice touch, and there's also a meaningful scene between Gail and her mother, who says that divorce is nothing more than an "out," and you cannot build a marriage with the presumption in the back of your mind that you can always get out of it. Wise words, in a decent and reasonably family-friendly thriller.