From: leeper@mtgzy.att.com (Mark R. Leeper)
Subject: REVIEW: A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
Reply-To: leeper@mtgzy.att.com
Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 14:10:53 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Summary: r.a.m.r. #01597
Keywords: author=Leeper

                          A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
                      A film review by Mark R. Leeper
			Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper

          Capsule review:  Norman Maclean's autobiographical
     novella is brought to the screen by the sure hand of director
     Robert Redford.  I found the characters hard to care much
     about and the scenery of more interest.  Others' mileage may
     vary.  Rating: 0 (-4 to +4).

     As an actor Robert Redford is just not my cup of tea.  He generally
plays someone handsome and callow and perhaps less than a deep thinker.
When a film calls for someone to be handsome and callow and less than a
great thinker, he can be good in a role.  I certainly cannot fault him for
his contributions to films such as THE CANDIDATE and THE NATURAL.  But
Robert Redford the director is another animal entirely.  His ORDINARY PEOPLE
was neither ordinary nor empty, but a quiet and powerful study of a family
that was no longer functioning as a family.  THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR was
another film of keenly observed personalities.  But this time he had a
whimsical feel and a spell of magical realism.  In his third film the
craftsmanship is greater than ever but the people are much more reserved and
the film lacks impact.  It is hard to feel much for a family that believes
so strongly that the best thing in life is fly fishing.

     In Missoula, Montana, of the 1920s the Reverend Maclean is a dry, stern
Presbyterian minister of Scottish descent.  He leaves it to be assumed that
behind his formal crustiness he may even have strong feelings for his
children.  He expresses emotion for only dry fly fishing and believes there
is no clean line between religion and fly fishing.  His two sons grow up
loving each other and in subtle competition.  The older, Norman (played by
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and later Craig Sheffer), is bookish and tentative,
while the younger, Paul (played by Van Gravage and later Brad Pitt). is
handsome, self-assured, and adventuresome.  As they grow older, Norman is
reserved and religious, while Paul is more inclined to walking on the wild
side.  Most of the story is set in one summer when Norman returns to Montana
after graduating college.  The story is generally episodic, relating the
relationship of the boys over that summer.

     Redford's direction and Philippe Rousselot's camera capture the beauty
of Montana but then fails to make the people upstage the scenery.  At least
this is the all-too-familiar story of the righteous son and the son tempted
by women and strong drink.  The message is too much like what is real and
good and true in life is getting out into nature and killing fish.  When it
was all over, the characters I was rooting for all had gills.  In spite of
the polish, I give this film only a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale, but that may be
only that I did not connect with the characters.

					Mark R. Leeper
					att!mtgzy!leeper
					leeper@mtgzy.att.com