Synopsis:  Michael Phelps set the world on fire in 2008 with his speed and dominance at the Olympics, but there’s another swimmer who holds some mighty impressive records – and he drinks two bottles of wine a day and swims the lengths of the world’s longest rivers.  His name is Martin Strel, a Slovenian endurance swimmer who has conquered the Mississippi, the Danube, and the Yangtze – highlighting pollution in the world.  Now in his fifties, he attempts his greatest feat yet – the Amazon.  Part sports documentary, part environmental documentary (Strel is highlighting the deforestation of the Amazon River basin) and part quirky character study, John Maringouin’s Big River Man is a roller coaster of emotions that highlight man’s relationship to the natural world around him. 

Review:  This could have been a good movie.  After all, it has a great premise: an environmentalist sets out to swim all of the great rivers in the world to bring attention to deforestation and river pollution.  To cap off his efforts, he sets out to swim all 3,375 miles (3,274 depending on who you listen to) of the beautiful, mysterious, and dangerous Amazon River.  This is a movie that I want to see.  Unfortunately, this isn’t the movie that Director John Marigouin made. 

 Big River Man is about Martin Strel, an endurance swimmer and self-styled environmentalist from Slovenia.  The man is 52-years old, significantly overweight, and is most likely an alcoholic (he drinks a minimum of two bottles of wine per day and swims with a squirt bottle filled with wine).  His feats of swimming the lengths of the Mississippi, Danube, and Yangtze Rivers can not be denied.  But Strel is much more of a daredevil than he is crusader for the environment.  And as the film progresses, it becomes clear that he is likely suffering from mental illness. 

Thankfully, Strel has his son Borut and friend Matthew Mohlke with him on the Amazon.  The hope is these two can help control and guide the increasingly unstable swimmer.  Of course, that isn’t what happens.  First, Mohlke starts exhibiting strange behavior and at one point appears to be worshipping the elder Strel.  Borut keeps it together for most of the adventure, but even he seems to lose it as the trio reaches the end of their journey. 

The Amazon, the rain forest, and the psuedo-crusade all take a back seat to the behavor and personalities of the three main characters.  Very little is said (and even less done) about the environmental impact of deforestation and river pollution.  The environmental angle seems nothing more than a ploy to garner attention once the swim is underway.  Even the swim itself takes a backseat at times to the strange behavior of Strel and his entourage.

Even with the quirky characters and their strange behavior, Big River Man could have turned into a good film.  Unfortunately, the filmmaker decided to accentuate the unstable behavior with weird camera angles, unfocused scenes, and strange music.  By the end of the swim, I wasn’t sure if I was watching a documentary or a work of fiction.  

As I said, this could have been a good film.  The story was interesting.  The characters were interesting.  But the movie ultimately suffered from the same instability that plagued the two Strels and Mohlke.  It was disappointing.

 (2.5 out of 5.0)

BIG RIVER MAN from Amazon Herb on Vimeo.

Film Website:   http://www.bigriverman.com/BigRiverMan.html

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