Actually a 9.5 due to a bit of very minor bloodshed (a knife fight between Lucius and a 15-year old boy), some cuss words and the "N" word. Otherwise, almost "Pollyannish" but with a slightly rougher edge. (A few "adult" situations, as part of it takes place in a "whore" house!) "The Reivers" ("river pirates") is a coming of age adventure story, set in (circa) 1905 Mississippi. The three "Reivers" are Ned (Rupert Crose), Boon (Steve McQueen) and 11 year old Lucius (Mitch Vogal) Also starring Sharon Ferrell as Corrie and Will Geer as "Boss". Music by John Williams and novel narration by Burgess Meredith. Superb cinematography. Fine period locations, sets and costumes. Just beautifully done. Also one of Steve McQueen's best comedy films. "A bumpy automobile journey" by a 1905 Winton Flyer to Memphis, involving a beautiful prostitute and a "spellbinding" horse race. (Comments from the DVD cover) (The horse loves sardines!) From a great novel by William Faulker. Most enjoyable. Worth watching and worth owning. Some drama, but a lot of good humor as well. Quite "respectful" of the black actors. It portrays them as real, honest people and not stereotypes. Not suitable at all for children under 13. (See the 1st two lines of this review.) Often with "edited dialog" and a shorter knife scene for cable, which really improves the movie quite a bit for a younger audience.

This movie holds a special significance to me as it was one of my late father's favorites. It's a William Faulkner coming-of-age story about a boy named Lucius (Mitch Vogel) in early 1900s Mississippi. Lucius looks up to Boon (Steve McQueen), the immature handyman on his grandfather's plantation. Boon convinces Lucius to help him "borrow" the grandfather's brand new car and drive to Memphis to see Boon's prostitute girlfriend (Sharon Farrell). Tagging along for the ride is Lucius' older cousin Ned (Rupert Crosse), who's almost as irresponsible as Boon. Once in Memphis, a lot of things happen and they wind up needing to win a horse race to get the grandfather's car back.McQueen is good in a role a little outside of his wheelhouse. Vogel, Farrell, and Crosse are all good as well. Will Geer plays the grandpa. Light-hearted but with some serious moments. In many ways it plays like a Disney film of the period, except with whores and people using the N-word. William Faulkner is probably my favorite Southern author but his work hasn't been considered easy to translate to screen. This is one of the better efforts.

My favorite Steve McQueen film has to be The Reivers. He was so right for the part of Boon Hogganbeck, handyman and general all around troublemaker, he should have been considered for an Oscar nomination. It's definitely by far his funniest film.The Reivers is a posthumously published novel by William Faulkner and it's set in the Mississippi in the turn of the last century. The protagonist is a child Mitch Vogel, a most properly brought up child and grandson to the big kahuna in that delta county, Will Geer. Geer is a man who believes in progress, in fact he's brought the first automobile into his area, a brand new yellow Winton Flyer. That car proves way too much temptation for McQueen who'd like to use it to go courting his girl friend, a hooker who works in Michael Constantine's and Ruth White's Memphis bordello, Sharon Farrell. But to hatch his scheme, McQueen entices Vogel to tell some well placed lies about which relative the young man might be staying with and then taking Vogel and the car to Memphis after McQueen's been left in his charge. Stowing away in the Winton Flyer is Rupert Crosse.Crosse who did get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor is a mixed racial cousin of Geer's family and it does entitle him to some perks in the racist society that was early 20th century Mississippi. But Crosse is as smart and resourceful as McQueen and knows how to play up to people and make the racism work his way. Unfortunately Crosse lost his Oscar bid to Gig Young for They Shoot Horses Don't They. And sad to say Crosse died a few years later at too young an age, very much like star Steve McQueen.It's one rollicking ride our intrepid trio is on from the bordello to a horse race where Crosse swaps Geer's new automobile for a race horse that he discovers runs like lightning with a trick gimmick. Laughs mixed with some serious Faulkner social commentary.One person who does not credit enough in this film is Sharon Farrell. Her role as McQueen's girlfriend is tender and touching and in the end she actually becomes an honest woman. But a great deal of the enjoyment of The Reivers is in how that is accomplished.For any fan of Steve McQueen, The Reivers is an absolute must. And I guarantee you, one will become a fan of Steve McQueen after seeing this fascinating, tender, funny film.

I recall first seeing this movie on TV in July of 1978 & just by chance as I was sitting on my family room couch I was immediately taken away by both the scenery & narration @ once.By The way the narration is by The Late Burgess Meredith as The Grown up Lucius. Next after that came an interesting aspect of American history when people of any age could drive just by being taught on the spot as that boy Lucius was right after the beautiful scenery of which the film began with.It's very inspirational from start to finish & beyond the film's ending in addition to how as one good when I didn't even ever know of the film's name for 21 years in part because the story & scenery took me away so that I didn't need to know the name in order to be impressed as well as to be taken away through time & imagery & so that in conclusion when I saw the ad for this years later & there was just no mistaking that scenery for another scenery & I then watched it after the ad of which told it was coming up next & to no surprise I was right got to watching it again & now even have it on tape & feel that everyone should as well because it's very awe inspiring & as well as a very educational aspect of our American History & in addition to that knowing another work of William Faulkner's outside "As I Lay Dying." of which I read in American Literature back in 1984.Watch in The Reivers for Will Geer as That grandpa called Boss and before he was made famous as Grandpa Walton.However If you get the copy of this movie like on the wide screen DVD with both the top and bottom black borders you may like me find it both distracting as well as unnecessary. Truthfully, Stephen "Steve" G. Baer a.k.a. "Ste" of Framingham,Ma.USA