A River Runs Through It (1992)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 40
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 7
Tasteful to a fault, this period drama combines a talented cast (including a young Brad Pitt) with some stately, beautifully filmed work from director Robert Redford.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 1
Tasteful to a fault, this period drama combines a talented cast (including a young Brad Pitt) with some stately, beautifully filmed work from director Robert Redford.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 66,101
My Rating
Movie Info
Robert Redford's lyrical direction sets the tone for this evocative adaptation of author Norman MacLean's memoir of his idyllic Montana youth. The MacLean family is presided over by the strict but encouraging Rev. MacLean (Tom Skerritt) and his loving wife (Brenda Blethyn). Craig Sheffer stars as the young Norman, the older son in his family, who takes his school work and writing a bit too seriously for Paul (Brad Pitt), the impetuous younger son, to take much stock in. Paul would rather have a
Oct 9, 1992 Wide
Nov 23, 1999
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Craig Sheffer
Norman Maclean -
Brad Pitt
Paul Maclean -
Tom Skerritt
Reverend MacLean -
Brenda Blethyn
Mrs. Maclean -
Emily Lloyd
Jessie Burns -
Edie McClurg
Mrs. Burns -
Stephen Shellen
Neal Burns -
Nicole Burdette
Mabel -
Susan Traylor
Rawhide -
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Young Norman -
Vann Gravage
Young Paul -
Chuck Adamson
Harry the Editor -
Philip A. Braun
Dealer at Lolo -
Rob Cox
Conroy -
David Creamer
Ken Burns -
Michael Cudlitz
Chub -
Byron Dingman
Speakeasy Patron -
Macintyre Dixon
Police Sergeant -
Jim Dunkin
Speakeasy Bartender -
Hawk Forssell
Bouncer at Speakeasy -
D. Gorton
Pavilion Announcer -
William Hootkins
Murphy -
Don Jeffery
Black Jack -
Cecily Johnson
Speakeasy Patron -
Prudence Johnson
Pavilion Singer -
Rex Kendall
Reporter -
Margot Kiser
Sal -
Martina Kreidl
Secretary at Newspaper -
Jack Kroll
Reporter -
Tracy Mayfield
Bouncer at Lolo -
Anne Merrem
Hooker at Lolo -
Fred Oakland
Mr. Burns -
Lincoln Quesenberry
Drunk in Alley -
Madonna Reubens
Aunt Sally -
Arnold Richardson
Old Norman -
Kathy Scharler
Waitress at Speakeasy -
Jess Schwidde
Mrs. Sweeney -
Caleb Shiff
Young John -
Buck Simmonds
Humph -
Jacob Snyder
Piano Player -
Noah Snyder
Copy Boy at Newspaper -
Chuck Tweed
Drunk in Jail -
Robert Redford
Narration
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All Critics (40) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (7) | DVD (11)
A skilled, careful adaptation of a much-admired story.
This may work for you if you settle at the outset for a nostalgic, all-American mood piece.
Leave your preconceptions about fishing at the door: you'll be caught hook, line and sinker.
Top CriticHere are two things I never thought I'd say: I like a movie about fly fishing, and Robert Redford has directed one of the most ambitious, accomplished films of the year.
Redford's movie is too little show and too much tell.
In its determination to emphasize character and thoughtful content over formulas and facile sensationalism, it's a movie that's proudly out of step with Hollywood trends.
Moving, powerful movie of two brothers.
Fans of this film will want to know how good it looks on Blu-ray, and the answer is, awfully good.
Sherritt has been in a lot of movies, but the role of Rev. Maclean seems like one he was born to play. He owns it, the way that Pitt and Sheffer own theirs, and as a result it takes no time at all to believe this group as a family and become involved.
There is too much taste, discretion and detachment in Redford's rendition of MacLean's sprawling family saga, but the scenery and Brad Pitt are nice to look at due to Philippe Rousselot's gorgeous Oscar-winning cinematography.
Although heart-throb Pitt steals the film to some extent, veteran actor Skerritt scores highly with his outstanding and heartfelt portrait of the watchful father.
Even set against the Sierra Club beauty of Redford's Montana, it's hard to get excited by fisherman casting their lines into the water.
A great movie to watch with the family at Christmas.
A specialist in bringing books to life as movies, Redford has a knack for finding what matters in the text and making sure it ends up on screen.
Brad Pitt's breakthrough...a nostalgic, fine telling.
Nice to look at but rather dull
How exciting is fly-fishing as a metaphor?
Audience Reviews for A River Runs Through It
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Conroy: You can't shoot the shoots, Pauly.
- Paul Maclean: You can try.
- Humph: You can die trying.
-
- Humph: Jesus, Mary & Joseph...
-
- Norman Maclean: And I knew just as surely, just as clearly, that life is not a work of art, and that the moment could not last.
-
- Reverend MacLean: For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them - we can love completely without complete understanding.
-
- Reverend MacLean: Each one of here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them - we can love completely without complete understanding.
-
- Narration: Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| A River Runs Through It - A Rare Gem | 53 days ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- Aus der Mitte entspringt ein Fluss (DE)
- Et au milieu coule une rivière (FR)
