MovieChat Forums > White Mile (1994) Discussion > Good Movie, Dumb Raft Guide

Good Movie, Dumb Raft Guide

posted 7 years ago by staramouche (1)
1 reply | jump to latest

I enjoyed the story and the actors but the whitewater scenes, while exciting, were a lesson in what not do when rafting! Huge kudos to the extras who ran some impressive lines on respectable class 4-5 stretches in an overcrowded SOTAR. The guide was the typical ski bum in the off season stoner who had no clue about safety with every choice leading to disaster, but it was fun to chuckle about the lapses and to guess who would survive the trip. Watch this then follow it up with an episode from the series "I Shouldn't be Alive" about the Grand Canyon raft survivor for a fun night.

[–] Tabbycat (915) 6 years ago

I think you missed the point.
The raft guide was not dumb, but weak.

Obviously very experienced (watch him swim cross-current like a motorboat), he well knew the risks of a freezing Class V river — far better than his greenie charges. Do you take fat middle-aged city-folk newbies on a Class V ... without even a basic swim test? No. Do you let these same newbies overload your SOTAR’s on said river? No.

Unless, that is, you let a wealthy manipulative bully like Dan Cutler make your decisions for you.
Maybe because you neeed the business, or maybe because you’re just too weak to say no.
Or both.

Having rafted myself, it’s obvious the man playing the guide was in fact a real-life one pressed into service. He certainly ain’t no actor (“Chilko’s no swimming hole!”)