A River Runs Through It (Film) Robert Redford

Box office

Released on October 9, 1992, the film grossed $43,440,294 in the United States and Canada.[12] In 1993, it grossed $22.9 million for a worldwide total of over $66 million.[13]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 6.79/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "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."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[16]

Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars. He wrote “Redford and his writer, Richard Friedenberg, understand that most of the events in any life are accidential or arbitrary, especially the crucial ones, and we can exercise little conscious control over our destinies.”[17]

Much of the praise focused on Pitt's portrayal of Paul, which has been cited as his career-making performance.[18] Despite the critical reception, Pitt was very critical of his performance on the film: "Robert Redford made a quality movie. But I don't think I was skilled enough. I think I could have done better. Maybe it was the pressure of the part, and playing someone who was a real person — and the family was around occasionally — and not wanting to let Redford down."[19]

Accolades