The Real Wild One!
Some of you may not be as old as I am and may not remember the general buzz of excitement that this movie created when it was released. Meryl Streep was starring in an ‘action’ role! It was her character who would be saving the day, not a man! Apparently, this was unique. (I’d argue with that, but anyway...) And, of course, when cinema goers actually saw The River Wild, it never really lived up to all this hype.
Now, quite a few years later, without the lofty expectations, I thoroughly enjoy the movie.
It’s directed by Curtis Hanson. If you believe the rumours he and Streep never saw eye to eye on a lot of things (including the script which is rumoured to have been ‘fixed’ by Carrie Fisher!), but DS was cast in LA Confidential (Hanson’s next movie), so they mustn’t have had many clashes!
I adore this about DS, of course. I love how he acts with (and for, if we're talking producers and directors) people over and over again. Because he's nice!!!!!
Streep is Gail Hartman, a married mum of two, a teacher at a school for the deaf and an expert white water rafter. She's clever, fit, pretty and tanned (those tan lines are almost a character in themselves *snort*). Gee, I don’t know, but now I feel really inadequate... So, no wonder that DS, as her husband Tom (a mere architect!!!) feels the same way. They are on the brink of divorce, but apparently going on a trip down a river where Gail can flex her superwoman muscles even more in front of Tom and their son, Rourke (a Jurassic Park kid) is going to save their marriage. Whatevers.
Also along for the ride is their beautiful golden lab, Maggie (who is actually a Mack if you watch carefully).
But it’s when they pick up Wade (Kevin Bacon) and Terry (John C Reilly), who just pulled off a heist where they murdered a security guard and are on their somewhat unusual getaway, that things go pear-shaped.
This whole part of the plot drives me insane. Apparently the creepy boys can’t go back upstream? They have to go all the way to a meeting place just before a big set of rapids (that are really treacherous but, of course, superwoman Gail has gone down them when she was younger). You don’t think in 1994 there would be somewhere/something/somehow people could get help if they needed it without having to buddy up with another raft? Perhaps, for me, they should have taken the setting back a few years to make this plausible. Their only help is Ranger Johnny (Benjamin Bratt thankfully not having to do anything but look pretty), but all he has is that little kayak that only holds him. ?? Also, is it a goof of the film’s that there are a couple of other rafts on the river, but no one ever seems to make reference to them. ???
At least Tom is rather normal and suspects that Wade and Terry are up to no good immediately. Gail and Rourke just think he’s jealous, and to a certain extent, he is. But, given Wade’s annoying childish behaviour, I think it’s more irritation that Gail and Rourke can’t see Wade for the idiot he is.
And maybe that’s my biggest problem with the film. Gail is supposed to be the ‘hero’ of the piece, but she is the tough, beautiful, talented, clever, funny one all along. Her saving the day is no surprise.
But if you watch the movie and note Tom’s character development, it’s much more interesting. Tom is the one everyone suspects as ‘weak’. He’s not a workaholic, but just trying to make his family proud of him. (Since when did an architect become an unsexy and embarrassing occupation? They are annoyed when he’s off ‘sketching’? WTF?) But eventually he shows them! A real man doesn't have to go around wearing no shirt and begging to go down a bigger set of rapids. A real man can wear glasses and be softly spoken and be clever enough to outsmart a couple of pretty boy crims!
This is also a much more difficult role to play. Meryl gets to be the accomplished heroine. So easy! She does it well and often! Bacon gets to be evuuuul. So easy! He does it well and often! Reilly gets to be the easily-led best friend. So easy! He does it well and often!
After lots and lots of supporting roles around this time, I think DS gets to shine. And I think this is why I adore this movie, despite my complaining about its obvious flaws. It’s rather a large part, and to me, he’s the real hero of the movie, even though the girl power 90s media were pushing it to be Gail.
Oh, and I think it's worth watching just to watch the kiss in the final scene. DS is a very good kisser. That is all.