The River Wild

Universal Pictures | Release Date: September 30, 1994

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

63	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Desson Thomson

If watched from a mildly amused, forgiving distance, the movie has its enjoyable moments—good and campy. Read full review

EmpireAngie Errigo

Exciting in parts, Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon doing their best, but arc of suspense doesn't quite bring you to the edge of your seats. Read full review

Janet Maslin

[Hanson] does another deft job of conveying a heroine's secret anxieties, at least during the first half of his story. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Most of The River Wild moves at an annoyingly maladroit, stop-and-go tempo — it feels too much like a camping trip — and almost nothing that happens is very believable. Read full review

Roger Ebert

The River Wild is one of the movies you want to play along with, you really do, but it gets so many details subtly wrong that finally you lose patience and turn on it. Read full review

Rita Kempley

The film would be utterly banal without the novelty of the high-toned Streep in an action role. Read full review

Rick Groen

It's her first action flick, and Meryl Streep ends up with a watered-down script: the metaphoric journey is without resonance and the actual journey is without thrills. The River Wild is awfully tame. [30 Sep 1994]

Susan Wloszczyna

Director Chuck Hanson, who did The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, provides many pretty-postcard shots of Oregon and Montana. But he should have been the hand that rocks the raft instead of holding off on most of the foamy feats until the final minutes. [30 Sep 1994, p.5D]

David Sterritt

There's nothing to think about once the watery plot has run its course, and even Streep's plucky performance isn't enough to keep it steadily afloat. [30 Sep 1994, p.13]