The Same River Twice Movie Review

Hippies do grow up, they really do. And even if you're the kind of crew that would take a month-long all-nude river rafting trip, The Same River Twice proves that you can not only mature, it doesn't have to be awful, either.

Robb Moss's documentary begins with footage of the aforementioned rafting trip, which he participated in in 1978. Unearthing that footage, Moss reconnects with a half-dozen of his tripmates to see how their lives have changed from those drugs-and-love-but-not-clothes days.

With the exception of one of the guys, they've all matured into traditional roles. Two are actually small town mayors, one's an aerobics instructor, and so on. They've got wives and kids, houses and cars. and testicular cancer. Granola days are long gone, and unfortunately memories of the bygone years aren't especially insightful. Rather, it's on the expected side: Those were good times. Get it will you can. I really wouldn't encourage my kids to do the same thing. And so on. They're all interesting characters in their own right, but I'd wager you can get the same level of stories -- or better -- from random folks at your office.

The DVD has a commentary track from Moss.