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Take Me to the River

Play trailer Poster for Take Me to the River PG 2014 1h 37m Documentary Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Music legends from Stax Records and Memphis mentor and pass on their musical knowledge to contemporary artists.
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Take Me to the River

Take Me to the River

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Critics Consensus

Scattered and uneven, Take Me to the River never adds up to much in terms of narrative documentary, but the music it honors is more than powerful enough to compensate.

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Critics Reviews

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Noah Berlatsky The Atlantic 08/28/2019
The film's interest in contemporary performers doesn't rob it of a sense of history. Go to Full Review
Peter Keough Boston Globe 09/25/2014
Flawed as it is, "River" reminds us where all the great music came from. Go to Full Review
Tim Campbell Minneapolis Star Tribune 09/25/2014
2.5/4
Three of the guitar marvels shown here - Hubert Sumlin, Teenie Hodges and Skip Pitts - have died since filming. This is a marginal but worthwhile footnote to their legacy. Go to Full Review
Michael J. Casey Michael J. Cinema 11/04/2021
3/5
'Take Me to the River' has its detractions but not enough to derail the project. Go to Full Review
Chris McCoy Memphis Flyer 01/08/2020
It's fun to be a fly on the wall in these recording sessions held in historic spaces, and the camaraderie and respect between the players is evident. Go to Full Review
Jared Mobarak The Film Stage 02/27/2016
B-
While you may stick around for the stories, the film's true draw is the music. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Gina W @RT47387387 01/08/2017 This movie is about the sound that came out of Memphis from the twenties. Great music but the narrative was a bit too long. See more 01/31/2016 Take Me to the River is a touching and powerful documentary about the music that grew out of Mississippi and Memphis. These musicians were not divided along lines of race. Good music and brave souls were the uniters in the deepest South before the end of Jim Crow, and after. The movie also brings together blues and rap in a way that is inspiring and exciting. This movie shares the best that Mississippi Delta blues and Mississippi hill country blues has to offer, allowing us to witness the creative process between races and generations. I've seen it twice, and I'm going back to it. It is one of those movies that gives and gives. See more 10/05/2014 Not bad but I wish it was a little more focused. This movie comes at a hard time because there have been some really top notch music docs as of late. See more 09/20/2014 This is a documentary about the sound of America, past present and future, part of our gift to the music world. You have to see it to feel it and you will. See more 09/19/2014 Check out our review of TAKE ME TO THE RIVER http://aalbc.it/tmttrfilm See more 09/14/2014 Great Doc. Perfect companion piece for 30 Feet From Stardom. Some of the rappers ruined the music but the majority were fantastic. See more Read all reviews
Take Me to the River

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Music legends from Stax Records and Memphis mentor and pass on their musical knowledge to contemporary artists.
Director
Martin Shore
Producer
John Beug, Cody Dickinson, Jerry Harrison, Brett Leonard
Screenwriter
Rick Clark, Jerry Harrison, Martin Shore, Zac Stanford
Distributor
Abramorama
Production Co
Social Capital
Rating
PG (Language|Thematic Material|Smoking)
Genre
Documentary, Music
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 12, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 5, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$27.3K
Runtime
1h 37m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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