''The River Why'' is a 2010 American independent drama film directed by

Matthew Leutwyler Matthew Steven Leutwyler (born July 23, 1969) is an American writer, director, and producer. Life and career Leutwyler studied film at The San Francisco Art Institute. His first feature film was the dark comedy/road picture ''Road Kill'' starri ...

. It is an adaptation of the 1983 Sierra Club novel of the same name by

David James Duncan David James Duncan (born 1952)
at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library,

...

Ambush, Hurt jump into ''River Why''
from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine and stars

Zach Gilford Zachary Michael Gilford (born January 14, 1982) is an American actor, known for his role as Matt Saracen on the NBC sports drama series '' Friday Night Lights''. In 2021, he starred in the Netflix horror limited series ''Midnight Mass''. In 2022, ...

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. H ...

and

Amber Heard Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film ''All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2006), and went on to star in films such as '' The Ward'' (2010) and '' Drive Angry'' (2011). S ...

. Showtime broadcast the film in August 2011 and was later screened in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

as benefit for fish and river conservation groups. The film was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on November 8, 2011. The film won the award for Best Cinematography at the Ashland Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best film at The Naples International Film Festival. The film's title is a

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

of the River Wye.

Plot

''The River Why'' is an adaptation of the 1983 Sierra Club novel by David James Duncan. The coming-of-age tale centers on a young man named Augustine "Gus" Orviston (

) and his quest for an elusive Rainbow Trout, which is a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

for his internal search for self-knowledge.

plays his love interest, a tomboy fly-fisher named Eddy. The film begins with Gus, a discontented city dweller, fresh out of high school. Gus and his quiet, younger brother are audience to his parents; avid fishermen whom cannot seem to find an agreement over their separate loves of bait and fly fishing. After briefly glimpsing Eddy at a fishing exhibition and her passionate argument to save Oregon rivers, restless Gus has had enough of conforming to a life he doesn't feel he is fit for. Following an explosive argument with his parents, Gus moves to a small cabin in the country alongside a river. His objective: fishing every day and all day. As he begins to sink into his new routine, Gus is puzzled to find he is still discontent with what he has always believed is his "ideal" life. This boils over when Gus takes a day trip in his

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

and finds the body of a man deemed missing by the papers a few weeks earlier who has died while fly fishing. Gus pulls him back to shore where they are retrieved by law enforcement. Besides being cold and exhausted, Gus is physically fine but emotionally he is in a turmoil. Truly facing death for the first time, Gus is overwhelmed by the meaningless life he feels he is living. He goes to the city, uncharacteristically getting drunk. He meets a strange but friendly philosopher named Titus. The two talk and Titus helps Gus understand his discontentment while becoming fast friends. Things begin to look up for Gus as he teaches the neighborhood children to fish and sells handmade

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

and rods to support himself. Gus finally sees Eddy again while taking a hike. He witnesses her skinny dipping and fishing. To preserve her modesty, he drops his things and moves to a separate location and begins whistling so she knows he is coming. After an awkward interaction, Eddy finds Gus's things that he dropped when he initially saw her and leaves when Gus isn't looking. A disappointed Gus still stores the fishing rod and fish that Eddy left behind in the hopes that she will return. Soon after, when a chance encounter with a beginner fly-fisherman turns into an impromptu newspaper interview with a well-known local journalist, Gus finds a way to promote his tackle shop and get in contact with Eddy by releasing his location and letting "the young woman who left her fishing pole and trout with him" know that it's available at any time. Amidst giving fishing advice, selling tackle, and of course continuing to fish himself, Gus finds himself almost happy, but still wishing to be with Eddy who has yet to return. After coming back to his cabin one day though, Gus is surprised to find Eddy inside, waiting for him. The two talk and spend the weekend getting to know each other, ending with a kiss. Eddy continues to see Gus as the two grow closer. Eddy catches a large

Chinook Salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus '' Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ...

to Gus's surprise and to his even greater surprise, hands him the fishing pole and upon letting him know she'll see him after heading back to her house in the nearby city of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, leaves him to reflect while following the Chinook upriver. After a full day and the majority of the night, the Chinook finally tires, leaving Gus able to bring it to hand. Instead, Gus cuts the line and lets the fish go, realizing that Eddy had him do this to help him understand that the true meaning of his life could never be something as simple as fishing but instead to do what he loves with the people he loves. Finding Eddy waiting for him, the two consummate their relationship. Eddy leads Gus to the final piece of his puzzle of finding meaning in his life when she takes him to a small beach on the river by his cabin where he is both surprised and joyfully overwhelmed to find his family waiting for him. The film ends with a finally content Gus introducing Eddy to his family as they all fish together.

Cast

as Gus Orviston *

as Eddy *

as Henning Hale-Orviston *

Dallas Roberts Dallas Mark Roberts (born May 10, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Milton Mamet in the third season of AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' (2012-2013), Eliot Delson on '' Unforgettable'', and Owen Cavanaugh on ''The Good Wif ...

as Titus *

Kathleen Quinlan Kathleen Denise Quinlan Abbott (born November 19, 1954) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1977 film of the novel '' I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,'' and her Golde ...

as Carolina "Ma" Carper-Orviston **

Nikki DeLoach Nikki DeLoach is an American actress. Early life DeLoach was born in Waycross, Georgia. She is the eldest of three children of Terri, Pierce County School superintendent and David DeLoach, an owner of a wood products company. She has a sister L ...

as Young Carolina "Ma" Carper * Brendan Robinson as Kernie *

William Devane William Joseph Devane (born September 5, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Greg Sumner on the primetime soap opera ''Knots Landing'' (1983–1993) and as James Heller on the Fox serial dramas '' 24'' (2001–2010) and '' ...

as "Dutch" Hines * Gattlin Griffith as Bill Bob * Robert Zorn as Fly Shop Owner * Breanna Aleigh Grimes as Marlene

Production

On April 30, 2008, the film rights to ''The River Why'' became the subject of a lawsuit by novelist Duncan, alleging

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

among other issues.Hollywood Docket: ''River Why'' Author Claims Producers Infringed on Film Rights
from "

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

, Esq." blogDuncan v. Cohen, Case No. 08-CV-2243
( USDC, N. Calif. filed April 30, 2008) from courthousenews.com The lawsuit was settled and the case dismissed in November 2008. In June 2008, actors

and

joined the cast; filming began in

in July 2008.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:River Why, The 2010 films 2010 drama films Films directed by Matthew Leutwyler Films shot in Portland, Oregon American drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links