Does anybody really believe there is a body in the creek or are they just having great time being outdoors together in the precious last waning days of early fall. Its a Mississippi backwoods flash mob and its just a heck of a lot of fun. I saw it 26 years ago and I wish it was on tonight. Its so sad that the culture that could have put these good hearted folks bare-feet in the creek was long ago swallowed up by progress. The story works on several levels and gives the viewer no clue as to whether it should be taken seriously at all. The scenery the pace and the dialog are like a soothing low speed raft trip. No police, no first responders, no telephones, no helicopters just the local men and boys with an old fish net. PBS please bring this back.
3 Reviews
A Charming, Subtle, Lyrical Piece
imdb-1319219 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
"The Wide Net" is a lovely story about a young married couple. The key to the movie is the sexy game of hide and seek that the couple plays at the start of the film. The main plot is set in motion when the new husband gets drunk at a fair and fails to come home that night. When he gets home the next morning he finds a note from his bride suggesting that she may have committed suicide by jumping in the river. Another reviewer has criticized how quickly the husband decides to drag the river. But I ask you to consider whether he really thinks she's dead or whether he -- and everyone else -- are playing a part in the game his wife has set in motion. The old codger who loans the wide net knows what's what, but also respects -- and in the end commends -- how well the young man plays his part. The dragging of the river is a grand gesture of apology, and love, as well as the occasion for a community outing which throws up a delicious mess of fish.
Check out Sedgwick and the Mississippi Scenery
richard.fuller19 October 2003
This Eudora WElty story was set in the '30's or '40's of Mississippi and the director was Wiggins, Mississippi native Anthony Hererra. It is the story of a wife (Sedgwick) who feels her husband (Tubb) is ignoring her, but not in an adulterous way, so she leaves a note threatening suicide by jumping in the river.
The husband and his friend, Virgil (Tim Ransom), begin dragging the river for her body and uncover a large bounty of fish in the process, hence the title; the net they used.
Filmed in Mississippi, the lush countryside is spectacular in a way Hollywood could never recreate, from open fields to the river dragging to the dirt roads.
Other Mississippi films are "Oh, Brother, Where ARt Thou?" and "Intruder IN The Dust" as well as "Sounder" filmed in Louisiana. Close enough.
I thought the night scenes in "Intruder in The Dust" were more chilling than anything in "Blair Witch Project".
But back to "The Wide Net". The only hindrance is the husband's immediate leap from "My wife has jumped into the river" to "We have to drag the river." Apparently he has already given her up for being dead.
Still the quaint southern locale is only found in the south. I don't even think Texas has what the southern region has in buildings and flora. And how about our crickets? Again, only "Places in the Heart" which was in Texas, seemed to realize that bugs are prevalent in these climates.
But "The Wide Net" isn't a loser. Just don't see anyone ever getting to see this ETV program again.
The husband and his friend, Virgil (Tim Ransom), begin dragging the river for her body and uncover a large bounty of fish in the process, hence the title; the net they used.
Filmed in Mississippi, the lush countryside is spectacular in a way Hollywood could never recreate, from open fields to the river dragging to the dirt roads.
Other Mississippi films are "Oh, Brother, Where ARt Thou?" and "Intruder IN The Dust" as well as "Sounder" filmed in Louisiana. Close enough.
I thought the night scenes in "Intruder in The Dust" were more chilling than anything in "Blair Witch Project".
But back to "The Wide Net". The only hindrance is the husband's immediate leap from "My wife has jumped into the river" to "We have to drag the river." Apparently he has already given her up for being dead.
Still the quaint southern locale is only found in the south. I don't even think Texas has what the southern region has in buildings and flora. And how about our crickets? Again, only "Places in the Heart" which was in Texas, seemed to realize that bugs are prevalent in these climates.
But "The Wide Net" isn't a loser. Just don't see anyone ever getting to see this ETV program again.
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