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A River Runs Through It (film)

A River Runs Through It is a 1992 American drama film directed by Robert Redford, and starring Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt, Brenda Blethyn and Emily Lloyd. It is based on the 1976 semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, adapted for the screen by Richard Friedenberg. Set in and around Missoula, Montana, the story follows two sons of a Presbyterian minister, one studious and the other rebellious, as they grow up and come of age in the Rocky Mountain region during a span of time from roughly World War I to the early days of the Great Depression, including part of the Prohibition era.[2]

A River Runs Through It

  • October 9, 1992 (1992-10-09)

123 minutes

United States

English

$12 million[1]

$66 million

The film won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and was also nominated for Best Music, Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film grossed over $66 million and received positive reviews from critics.

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Released on October 9, 1992, the film grossed $43,440,294 in the United States and Canada.[12] In 1993, it grossed $22.9 million for a worldwide total of over $66 million.[13]

Critical response[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 6.79/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Tasteful to a fault, this period drama combines a talented cast (including a young Brad Pitt) with some stately, beautifully filmed work from director Robert Redford."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[16]


Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars. He wrote “Redford and his writer, Richard Friedenberg, understand that most of the events in any life are accidential or arbitrary, especially the crucial ones, and we can exercise little conscious control over our destinies.”[17]


Much of the praise focused on Pitt's portrayal of Paul, which has been cited as his career-making performance.[18] Despite the critical reception, Pitt was very critical of his performance on the film: "Robert Redford made a quality movie. But I don't think I was skilled enough. I think I could have done better. Maybe it was the pressure of the part, and playing someone who was a real person — and the family was around occasionally — and not wanting to let Redford down."[19]

at IMDb

A River Runs Through It

at the TCM Movie Database

A River Runs Through It

at AllMovie

A River Runs Through It

at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

A River Runs Through It