Plot
Meryl Streep takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.

Release Year: 1994

Rating: 6.2/10 (17,919 voted)

Director: Curtis Hanson

Stars: Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn

Storyline
Gail, an expert at white water rafting, takes her family on a trip down the river to their family's house. Along the way, the family encounters two men who are unexperienced rafters that need to find their friends down river. Later, the family finds out that the pair of men are armed robbers. The men then physically force the family to take them down the river to meet their accomplices. The rafting trip for the family is definitely ruined, but most importantly, their lives are at stake.

Cast:
Meryl Streep - Gail Hartman
Kevin Bacon - Wade
David Strathairn - Tom Hartman
Joseph Mazzello - Roarke Hartman
John C. Reilly - Terry
Benjamin Bratt - Ranger Johnny
Elizabeth Hoffman - Gail's Mother
William Lucking - Frank
Stephanie Sawyer - Willa Hartman
Victor Galloway - Gail's Father (as Victor H. Galloway)
Diane Delano - Ranger
Thomas F. Duffy - Ranger
Paul Cantelon - Violinist
Glenn Morshower - Policeman

Taglines: The vacation is over

Release Date: 30 September 1994

Filming Locations: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $10,200,000 (USA) (2 October 1994)

Gross: $94,216,343 (Worldwide) (1995)

Runtime: 108 min

Trivia:
Meryl Streep did most of her own stunts.

Goofs:
Continuity: After Terry falls out of the boat on Little Niagra, there is a quick wide shot of the boat showing all four people still in the boat.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Gail: Roarke! Roarke! I've told you for the 157th time, turn that damn music off. I'm losing my hearing. Jeez. You gotta find your sneakers buddy. You owe me.

There's much more beneath the surface of this story than you may expect

Rating: 8/10

This movie is highly entertaining. Bacon is so mean that I sometimes also feel antipathy for the characters he plays in other films. And Meryl Streep is convincing in her first action role. The script didn't give Mazzello any great moments but he is good as ever. The only sad thing is that you always know the story will have a happy ending. But you can't blame the film for that for you would never expect that the killers win. That would be too depressing for a film made in Hollywood. And the story is depressing enough at some moments because there is a strong psychological tension and death is always threatening the family members. The duel between the mother and the killer is extremely well made. This movie is much more than you would expect from an action film. Add to that rafting scenes that are so full of action and movement that you almost get a heart attack! That is entertainment!

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