The River (1984 film)

The River
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mark Rydell
Written by	Robert Dillon Julian Barry
Produced by	Robert Cortes Edward Lewis
Starring	Sissy Spacek Mel Gibson Scott Glenn
Cinematography	Vilmos Zsigmond
Edited by	Sidney Levin
Music by	John Williams
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	December 19, 1984 (1984-12-19)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$18 million[1]
Box office	$11.5 million (North America)[2]

The River is a 1984 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell, written by Robert Dillon and Julian Barry, and starring Sissy Spacek, Mel Gibson, and Scott Glenn. The film tells the story of a struggling farm family in a Tennessee river valley trying to keep its farm from going under in the face of bank foreclosures and floods. The father faces the dilemma of having to work as a strikebreaker in a steel mill to keep his family farm from foreclosure. It was based on the true story of farmers who unknowingly took jobs as strikebreakers at a steel mill after their crops had been destroyed by rain.

The River was theatrically released on December 19, 1984, by Universal Pictures. It received mixed reviews, with critics praising Spacek's performance and the cinematography, but criticizing the screenplay, execution, and Gibson's performance, whom many considered to have been miscast^{[citation needed]}. It was a box office failure, grossing only $11.5 million against an $18 million budget. Despite that, it received four nominations at the 57th Academy Awards; Best Actress (for Spacek), Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, and won the Special Achievement Award.