The Same River Twice
Monday January 26, 2004

Rated NA.
In the beginning, there was nudity. Along a bank of the Colorado River, a group of smiling, sun-kissed river guides bathed happily in the nude. It was 1978, and 17 friends had gathered for a communal, rugged, and breathtakingly beautiful month-long journey into the Grand Canyon. Twenty years later, one of their ranks revisited footage from the trip and followed up with five of the participants to discover where their lives have taken them. The resulting documentary is a tender and moving look at some of the essential questions about living a life: How do we make our choices, and what do we regret? Are we where we thought we'd be? How does aging affect us? And, perhaps most pointedly, can we integrate the person we used to be with the person we are now? Director Robb Moss's subjects are engaging, articulate people, uniformly gracious about contemplating major life choices in front of the camera. Happily, the film is as companionable as they are. -- Melissa Levine
 

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