My Review of "A River Runs Through It"

A River Runs Through It isn't the typical movie that I like watching. It's a period piece talking about how fishing can bring back a relationship between separated siblings. The explanation seems really dry but there's really a lot more to this movie than that. It isn't really a good description to get someone like me to watch this movie. What can I say? I'm a victim of the era I live in.

This movie starts off slow enough. The main character, Norman, is narrating the background of his story. He describes his hometown in Montana in great detail while the camera sweeps through it. We see that it's a much simpler time where the main sources of entertainment were very limited. People appreciated nature and the art of fishing.

He has a younger brother, Paul and two loving parents. He and Paul would do regular things like hang out with friends but Paul was the polar opposite of Norman. Paul seemed to be a more mischievous kid while Norman was a good kid. The bond between the two brothers is undeniable. They love each other and would do anything for each other.

Their father is a reverend of a church and is fairly strict with them. The one thing that he taught the two boys was how to fly fish. At the time fly fishing was thing to do in Montana so everyone there takes it very seriously. These boys were no exception. It's one of their greatest past times.

Eventually the boys grow up and Norman moves off to the big city to get a good education. Paul decides to stay behind. For a long stretch of time the boys have been separated and Norman finally comes back to visit his hometown. He discovers that a lot of things have changed but the people are generally the same.

The movie then goes into deeper examination of the characters. Paul has remained a rebel but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's continued to fish all this time and has really developed his fishing techniques. Norman sees Paul as a true artist because he's worked consistently at developing his craft.

Meanwhile Norman is still the same but is trying to decide what he wants to do with his life after college. He meets a love interest that may change his life path.

I love how Paul and Norman are so at ease with one another. There is a slight hint of jealousy in each of the brothers. You can sense that each of them have a little envy of each other. That's to be expected since the two of them are brothers.

Although this movie was set 100 years ago I noticed that things don't seem to change. They talk about social hierarchy and how people frown on people for just being a certain religion. The family name is very important back in those days. Discrimination is running rampant throughout that town and it's out in the open. I felt that this was a pretty genuine depiction of how it was like to live in those times. I did a little research and I found out that this was actually a true story.

It's based on Norman Maclean's book of the same name. He had written his memoirs into this book and Robert Redford converted it into a Hollywood movie. I thought it was a great story that felt right as a movie although I'm curious about the book now.

Regardless of the year that it's based on I can see these same qualities in people today. Sibling relationships seem to be the same no matter the era. The jealousy that we have of our siblings was accurately depicted in this movie. Another universal truth was that some of Norman's motivations was based on him trying to gain the approval of his father. I'm sure you'll be able to relate to a lot of the family dynamics that you see in this film.

The bond between Norman and Paul is really what keeps the movie going. This movie's dissection of their relationship really got me intrigued. I couldn't believe how glued I was to this movie.

Overall, for a movie that was supposed to be boring, it was way more interesting than I thought it would be. I would go so far as to say that I really liked this movie. It was an enjoyable ride from start to finish. I have to give this movie an 8 out of 10. Although this isn't the kind of movie a lot of people check out, I would say give it a chance. You won't be sorry.