Deliverance (1972)

Deliverance follows the harrowing adventures of four Atlanta city slickers who decide to get back to nature and take a canoe trip down Georgia's Cahulawassee River. They proceed with the expedition despite grave warnings from the locals that the river is not to be trifled with, but they soon discover that the rapids are the least of their troubles.

This is one of those classic movies that you often hear about, but never get around to watching. Many people have some vague awareness of the film as a warning against getting mixed up with hillbillies in the impoverished backwoods of the South. I was one of these semi-informed masses, and after many months of trying to rent the movie, I decided to just buy the DVD. And I'd say it was definitely worth it.

The outing starts off rather innocuously, with the standard horseplay and bravado one would typically expect from four guys trying to prove their manhood to nature and themselves. Their initial encounters with the rapids are tough but exhilirating, and their first night is spent drinking and eating their fill of fish. But soon after the journey resumes, the quartet runs afoul of the locals, and the events that follow are equal parts darkly humorous and deeply disturbing.

The performances by Jon Voight and Ned Beatty are very good, and Burt Reynolds was surprisingly great as the headstrong leader of the group. I guess Deliverance was filmed back when Reynolds was actually an actor, and not just a washed-up caricature of himself. At any rate, all the participants very accurately portray the initial excitement, then growing anxiousness and fear of the river journey. Filmed on location, the river too plays its part very well, and illustrates very well its dual nature as both a safe harbor from unwanted human contact, and a dangerous force all on its own.

I'd rate Deliverance very high, with good marks for sequences of whitewater, kung-fu, shotgun-fu, bow-and-arrow-fu, and compound fractures. I thought the very ending was a little fractured and drawn out, but I suppose it did mirror the fact that these men will never forget the torment to which they've been subjected. Highly recommended viewing for anyone thinking of taking a road trip through the southern states.