Robert Redford hovers like a ghost over A River Runs Through It—not so much as director (this is a sturdy if uninspired adaptation of Norman Maclean’s novella), but rather via his sacramental voiceover and the casting of a young Brad Pitt. In certain, sun-kissed shots, courtesy of cinematographer Philippe Rousselot, Pitt bears such an uncanny resemblance to twentysomething Redford that you expect someone to call him Sundance. Pitt brings his own brash charisma, of course, and the fact that he pops so much on the screen is unfair to his costar (and the film’s ostensible lead), Craig Sheffer. The pair play brothers growing up in 1920s Montana under the stern hand of their minister father (Tom Skerritt). If their father’s rigid piety doesn’t stick—especially for Pitt’s Paul, who is the wilder of the two—his love of fly fishing does, which is something Redford waxes poetic about via voiceover as Sheffer’s Norman in old age. It’s all nostalgic and old-timey in a fairly harmless way (there’s an interesting side plot involving a Native-American woman, played by Nicole Burdette, whom Paul dates despite the town’s racist objections). As for Pitt, A River Runs Through It is particularly interesting as a precursor to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, in which he played (quite brilliantly) a man of faith whose tight grip on his sons nearly squeezes the belief out of them.
(9/29/2025)
