The Rivers Run (Family)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: C
A family
peacefully working an Australian river have their lives shaken up by an unjust
accusation against the father of the family in The Rivers Run, a two-part TV production set on location, starring
Parker Stevenson and Breaker Morant’s
John Waters as the two males (one American, the other the accused Australian)
in this family-aimed drama that never really works.
The
acting is not that great, watered down further by trying to aim for a family
audience that only exists in political ideology. The child acting is the worst of all, making us
wish for the good old days of the Hollywood Studio System.
Of
course, no one ever looks for good acting from Parker Stevenson. The actor who first came to prominence with
Shawn Cassidy in the late 1970s on TV’s The
Hardy Boys keeps resurfacing when you least expect it. The failed cult Sci-Fi series Probe, the early seasons of Baywatch that set the series going,
many cameos and one-shot TV projects like this one, not to mention his former
marriage with Kristie Alley that included her famous note about his anatomy as
she got her award. She referred to
getting “the big one” and “the other big one” in that order.
The
camera has always like Stevenson, but critics never liked him. However he may be in real life, he still
managed to stay a few steps above an animated mannequin enough to have a career
with surprising longetivity. The work he
does here is poor, as is the writing and directing. It tries so hard to be
family-friendly that it backfires, leaving the scenery the only thing worth
checking out when all is said or done.
Adults seem like dumb children and children seem like they need to go
back to acting class.
The full
frame image is very average; not even showing off the locations and sets as
well as it could or should. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 sound is stereo, but that is it.
There are surprisingly no extras.
If you want a drama for the family, you could find much more
melodramatic programs, something that this production does not err in, but only
Stevenson fans should bother.
- Nicholas Sheffo
