Deliverance

Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox
Directed by: John Boorman
Rating: R
Genre: Adventure
Box Office: $46,122,355
1972

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Four friends (Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox) decide to take a canoe trip down the Cahulawasse River in Georgia. Along the trip, two of them are assaulted by two rednecks, one of whom sodomizes one of the friends. After the redneck is killed, they decide to hide the body and get out of the river, keeping the events there a secret.

Review:

Tim: This is one of the classic and best movies to come out of the 1970s. Even for one who has never seen the movie, they more than likely have at least heard about it. That's the kind of movie this is.

The song, "Dueling Banjos" plays throughout the film. The scene with the two men playing the instruments is terrific. To this day, if you find yourself in the woods and you hear that familiar banjo song.... RUN! Its actually a great song, but still strikes fear into campers everywhere.

Burt Reynolds is excellent in the film. He has perhaps the best line in the film, one that sets the stage for the entire movie. He says, "Sometimes you have to lose yourself before you can find anything." This is what the film is really about. There is a great deal of other events and probably most more memorable. However, at the core of Deliverance is this one message. Its important to remember that.

Besides the great song to come out of this film, there is some truly remarkable scenery. While the canoe trip was marred with disaster, one still can appreciate the beauty and majesty of nature that was all around the four men on the trip. It's beautiful to behold on screen.

In the end, Deliverance is exactly what it sets out to be. It is a disturbing, intense movie that has a good point at its center. And, at the very least, it makes you want to stay in the big cities and deal with drive-bys and gangs, rather than a couple of rednecks in Appalachia. One of the funniest comments I ever heard about the film was from some comedian who said, "Appalachian tourism is still trying to recover from this movie. Watch this film... just don't plan a camping trip for anytime soon after.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



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