Deliverance

Some years ago, I worked at Hollywood Video which was a lot of fun because I got to watch any movie I wanted. What I decided to do was to rent movies that I had heard were good or controversial. One of the movies I saw was Deliverance and let me tell you, that was so not what I expected! This movie came out in 1972 and it's about 4 Atlanta businessmen who decide to go canoeing down the fictional Cahulawassee River. Lewis, played by Burt Reynolds, is an experienced outdoorsman and is one of those guys that has to keep proving how macho he is. Ed, played by Angelina Jolie's father Jon Voight, has gone on a few outdoor trips with Lewis but isn't that experienced. Bobby and Drew are new to the whole outdoors trip and to canoeing. What they thought was going to be a great time with the guys turned out to be a nightmare. A couple of "locals" who are depicted as inbred hillbillies, decide they want to rape them and in their attempt to do so one of the hillbillies is killed. The other one flees but keeps taunting and trying to kill the others. One of the cool things about their trip was the banjo playing scene with a young odd looking local. The Dueling Banjos became a big hit and is still recognized today. Although this movie is creepy and weird, it is also a well made movie. It got 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture and 5 Golden Globe Awards. This film, although disturbing, is worth seeing. On a side note, Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight were hot back in the day!