So I am already a quarter of my way through to 76 movies, given I am 19 out of 76. Wow, that's seriously weird, 19 is exactly one fourth of 76. Super cool. With knowledge of 18 other movies from the same year, I will have to say in retrospect this movie felt a little older. However, it was also a change, given that this is a straight drama.
The Swinging 70s boxset has led me to some strange and odd circumstances. I've watched films that I would normally not watch at all. I've stepped out of genre, I've gone into romance, drama, biopic, and comedy. There have been a few of the strange or weird, there may even be a few horror or thriller types to come. But the reason I thought this would be fun is that it's gonna be such a mixed bag in watching this boxset.
The River Niger is a family drama piece. Roger Ebert reviewed it, and I have to agree with his thought that it felt soap-opera in it's scope. It's a operatic family drama in that it crams a lot of things into one flick, with a lot of issues touched on, brought up, dialogued, and some are heartfelt whereas others exist just to exist and make the rest seem more dramatic.
James Earl Jones, Louis Gossett Jr, and others lead a well acted story of a father figure, John, whose son is due home from the war soon. John's son Jeff was in the air force, and comes home with a bit of hostility to him. John is an alcoholic, Jeff didn't like the air force and washed out, John's wife has cancer, John goes missing for a short time, Jeff's bride gets hit on by some local gangs, there's a drug war going on....it's a load of problems heaped onto the flick to dramatize it all up.
Obviously the strengths here are many. James Earl Jones turns in a fantastic dynamic performance of a pained and free-spirited man. He's a poet and a painter, a philosopher and a father. He loves his wife, he lives his life, and just wants everyone to be happy. Various other characters are given enough to deepen their characters, and everything plugs along until the inevitable conclusion that slightly misfires as to what the end meaning truly was.
There was two extremely good moments though. John is a poet, and when he reads his poems, it's a shining moment to the film. As a lover of poetry, I liked the poems immensely. There is a sweetness to them, a yearning, and a passionate soul evoked, which James Earl Jones brings out with a silent strength and a resilience we admire. It's the type of moment where with every flaw a character may have, all is instantly forgiven, and we want to just sit and stare in awe. This type of thing would normally elevate it an entire star. Which leaves me with another...2.5? 3? I guess another 3. It had other good moments as well. So a 3.
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