A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

80% Tomatometer 45 Reviews 83% Audience Score 50,000+ Ratings The Maclean brothers, Paul (Brad Pitt) and Norman (Craig Sheffer), live a relatively idyllic life in rural Montana, spending much of their time fly fishing. The sons of a minister (Tom Skerritt), the boys eventually part company when Norman moves east to attend college, leaving his rebellious brother to find trouble back home. When Norman finally returns, the siblings resume their fishing outings, and assess both where they've been and where they're going. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

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A River Runs Through It

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Critics Reviews

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A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Peter Stack San Francisco Chronicle The film shimmers with grace and visual beauty. Rated: 4/4 Jan 11, 2023 Full Review A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Michael Rechtshaffen Hollywood Reporter Redford directs with a fluid grace... to capture the idyllic, light-drenched aura of Maclean's early childhood memories. Even the seemingly unexciting fly-fishing sequences take on a magical air worthy of Spielberg. Oct 10, 2018 Full Review A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Adam Mars-Jones Independent (UK) Redford remains a fine director of actors. With Brad Pitt, who gives a particularly good performance, he is dealing moreover with an actor whose handsomeness is reminiscent of his own at that age. Nov 15, 2017 Full Review A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Vanessa Letts The Spectator The film is blighted by an inability to break free from its source. Jul 24, 2018 Full Review A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant Redford's heartfelt yet unfulfilled film feels more watered-down than haunting. May 29, 2018 Full Review A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (6) James Plath Movie Metropolis Sherritt has been in a lot of movies, but the role of Rev. Maclean seems like one he was born to play. He owns it, the way that Pitt and Sheffer own theirs, and as a result it takes no time at all to believe this group as a family and become involved. Rated: 8/10 Jul 14, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member I drank four beers while watching this and would have drank another but decided to go fishing instead Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/10/24 Full Review Max G Meh. Good scenery but very little of the wonderful fishing narrative that held the book together. And an odd selection of scenes that were narrated. For example, when he told his parents about how his brother was brutally killed, why was this narrated with the actors simply sitting there? It would have been much more powerful if the director had actors carry the emotion through dialog. Actors were too squeaky clean in appearance. It was backwoods Montana. Fishing. Hardscrabble. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/24 Full Review Sophie N The movie was horrible, not an ounce of action. The story was so boring that I had to speed the movie at 1.5. Rated 1/5 Stars • Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Over 30 years old I remember watching parts of this in middle school for film studies and it all came crawling back This is beautifully filmed, heartwarming, and the actors have such refined chemistry Redford does wonders emulating the author Norman Mclean's life making a very skilled adaptation Plus the scenery and Brad Pitt are nice to look at due to Philippe Rousselot's gorgeous Oscar-winning cinematography Deftly drawn characters make this a befitting piece of family drama that's a simple breeze Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/09/23 Full Review Audience Member A movie for fisherman — slow, boring and no plot. But at the same time incredibly beautiful, from the scenery to the introspection. (35%) Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Shioka O Beautiful cinematography. Truly harmless. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/27/22 Full Review Read all reviews

A River Runs Through It

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Cast & Crew

Robert Redford Director Craig Sheffer Norman Maclean Brad Pitt Paul Maclean Tom Skerritt Rev. Maclean Brenda Blethyn Mrs. Maclean Emily Lloyd Jessie Burns
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A River Runs Through It

A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - I'll Never Leave Montana A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - I'll Never Leave Montana 2:13 A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - The Maclean Brothers Fight A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - The Maclean Brothers Fight 1:54 A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - We Can Love Completely A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - We Can Love Completely 2:06 A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Shooting the Chutes A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Shooting the Chutes 2:12 A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Learning to Fish and Write A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Learning to Fish and Write 2:13 A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Haunted by Waters A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Haunted by Waters 2:09 A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Witnessing Perfection A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Witnessing Perfection 2:12 A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Fishing with Father A River Runs Through It: Official Clip - Fishing with Father 1:50 View more videos

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A River Runs Through It

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Movie Info

Synopsis The Maclean brothers, Paul (Brad Pitt) and Norman (Craig Sheffer), live a relatively idyllic life in rural Montana, spending much of their time fly fishing. The sons of a minister (Tom Skerritt), the boys eventually part company when Norman moves east to attend college, leaving his rebellious brother to find trouble back home. When Norman finally returns, the siblings resume their fishing outings, and assess both where they've been and where they're going.

Director
Robert Redford

Producer
Patrick Markey, Robert Redford

Screenwriter
Norman Maclean, Richard Friedenberg

Distributor
Columbia Pictures, Pioneer Entertainment, Columbia Tristar

Production Co
Allied Filmmakers

Rating
PG

Genre
Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 9, 1992, Wide

Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2011

Box Office (Gross USA)
$43.4M

Runtime
2h 3m

Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround, Stereo
Most Popular at Home Now
A River Runs Through It | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

Was a river run through it a true story? ›

A River Runs Through is a cinematographically stunning true story of Norman Maclean. The story follows Norman and his brother Paul through the experiences of life and growing up, and how their love of fly fishing keeps them together despite varying life circ*mstances in the untamed west of Montana in the 1920's.

Is there a season 2 for A River Runs Through It? ›

S2 E1: Gareth decides to hire another chef.

What is the deeper meaning of A River Runs Through It? ›

In this novella, rivers have several meanings. On one level, a river represents the natural world. On another level, the arc of a river flowing through the rocks and canyons of Montana symbolizes the arc of a human life. Both meanings of the river inform the overarching structure of the novella.

What part did Robert Redford play in A River Runs Through It? ›

In addition, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Van Gravage portray the childhood versions of Norman and Paul, respectively, while director Robert Redford provides the uncredited narration, in the first person voice of a senior Norman.

Can Brad Pitt fly fish? ›

Both Craig Sheffer (Norman) and Brad Pitt (Paul) were quite athletic. Jason made sure that Skerritt and Sheffer used the traditional forearm style, while Pitt used the more open free arm style that Paul Maclean would have used. Rumors also said Pitt trained to fly-fish for four weeks before filming.

What happens to Brad Pitt at the end of A River Runs Through It? ›

In the film, Paul — played by a young Brad Pitt — is beaten to death in Montana. In reality, he was murdered in a Chicago alley, and, although conspiracy theories abound, the circ*mstances remain a mystery.

Does Norman marry Jesse in A River Runs Through It? ›

Norman Maclean

After college at Dartmouth, Maclean became a professor at the University of Chicago. He married Jessie Burns of Wolf Creek, Montana; they had two children, Jean and John.

What happens in the end of A River Runs Through It? ›

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basem*nt of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

What river was the movie A River Runs Through It filmed on? ›

Even though the film talks about the big Blackfoot River, all the fishing scenes in the movie are shot at Gallatin River. Livingston, which is approximately 200 miles away, was used for the filming location of Missoula.

What does the last quote in A River Runs Through It mean? ›

· 2y. It's part of the epilogue in the novella. Norman is stating how after all the ups and downs in life , the good and bad eventually we all die . It's a very metaphorical way of describing the circle of life .

What is a famous quote from the movie "A river Runs Through It"? ›

“Not far downstream was a dry channel where the river had run once, and part of the way to come to know a thing is through its death. But years ago I had known the river when it flowed through this now dry channel, so I could enliven its stony remains with the waters of memory.”

What happens to Paul at the end of A River Runs Through It? ›

Without giving too much away—you really ought to read “Home Waters”—John reveals that Paul was murdered in Chicago shortly after he had started a job in the public relations department at the University of Chicago. Paul had earlier been a young journalist in Montana.

Who is the old man at the end of A River Runs Through It? ›

Arnold Richardson was not the best-known Montanan to appear in a Hollywood movie, but his solitary bit part — as the elderly Norman Maclean in "A River Runs Through It" — remains one of the most iconic cinematic images of the state, partly responsible, for better or worse, for the explosion in the popularity of fly ...

Is a river run through it based on a true story? ›

A River Runs Through It is a true story taken from the book written by Norman MacLean about his youth in a small town in Montana in the 1920's where he lived with his father, mother and extraverted younger brother. His family lived a simple live.

Is Down by the River movie based on a true story? ›

The novel was based on a real-life story from 1992, when a similar case ignited controversy in both Ireland and the UK. The novel highlights the psychological realities of such attention on the girl, as she struggles with her abuse.

Is the river movie based on a true story? ›

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.

What happened to Paul Maclean? ›

In the movie, Paul is found dead in an alley in Montana, likely beaten to death over unpaid gambling debts. In reality, he was beaten to death in a backstreet in Chicago. The killer was never caught. Home Waters lovingly paints fishing as passion and metaphor.

Is a river run through it fiction or nonfiction? ›

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories is a semi-autobiographical collection of three stories by American author Norman Maclean (1902–1990) published in 1976. It was the first work of fiction published by the University of Chicago Press.

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