The River Wild: 30th Anniversary- Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon Hold Up This Survival Thriller

Quick Take: 30 years ago, Meryl Streep did her most action packed performance, playing a mom who has to use her particular set of skills to stop criminals and save her family. Later, Netflix made an ill advised remake, but we’re not talking about Bruno today. This is The River Wild, directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Streep, Kevin Bacon, David Strathair, and john C. Reilly. It is a movie I’ve seen several times, and have loved every single one. I was just starting to get away from watching just movies aimed at kids in this timeframe, and this Pg-13 film was such a great segue into adult minded fare. Not everything Meryl does needs an Oscar nomination, but you know that just by appearing, it got buzz. In fact, Streep is such an awards darling, that she managed both a Golden Globe nomination, as well as a Screen Actors Guild nomination, and luckily failed to get her 878th Oscar nom. Don’t get me wrong. I love her, love the film, but this just is not Oscar bait. It did have audio description when it was floating on Netflix, so that is a proof of existence. Wait for it to float by again, and check it out. It is a tight thriller that still holds up. For more, check out my video.