Themes: Flight of the Innocent, Fathers and Daughters
Main Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Martha Plimpton, Brian Dennehy, Shawn Smith, Nancy Lea Owen
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Tommy Lee Jones plays the title character in The River Rat. Released from prison after 13 years, Jones heads south to meet his hoydenish daughter Martha Plimpton for the first time. The father-daughter relationship flounders until Jones takes the girl on a long, bonding raft trip on the river. Both Jones and Plimpton become fugitives from justice when they run afoul of crooked parole-officer Brian Dennehy. Before the film's allotted 93 minutes have passed, Plimpton has proven time and again to be truly her father's daughter. It's a toss-up as to which is more enjoyable in River Rat, the film itself or the wall-to-wall musical score by Mike Post. Screenwriter Thomas Rickman was underwritten for his directorial debut by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Norman Bennett - Sheriff Cal; Tony Frank - Poley; Angie Bolling - Joyce; Melissa Davis - Alida Le Blanc; Pete Renaday - Cajun Doctor; Michael Shepard - Cajun Sheriff; Louis R. Plante - Cajun Deputy; Rod Britt - Cajun Deputy
Credit
Peter V. Saldutti - Costume Designer, L. Andrew Stone - First Assistant Director, Tom Rickman - Director, Steve Mirkovich - Editor, Dennis Virkler - Editor, Michael Apted - Executive Producer, Mike Post - Composer (Music Score), Debbie Allen - Songwriter, Stephen Geyer - Songwriter, Steve Plunkett - Songwriter, Mike Post - Songwriter, John J. Lloyd - Production Designer, Jan Kiesser - Cinematographer, Bob Larson - Producer, Joe Mitchell - Set Designer, James R. Alexander - Sound/Sound Designer, Tom Rickman - Screenwriter
