The River Within
5.4 /10 1 Votes5.4
Director Zac Heath Initial DVD release November 10, 2009 Duration Country United States | 5.2/10 Genre Drama, Family Budget 40,000 USD Writer Zac Heath (story) Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date September 11, 2009 (2009-09-11) Cast Josh Odor, Jaclyn Friedlander, Craig Luttrell, Maurice Mejia Similar movies Saving God (2008), The Miracle of the Cards (2001), The Genius Club (2006), The Grace Card (2010), Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002) Tagline One man's journey back will change his life forever. |
The River Within is a 2009 film written and directed by Zac Heath. The film was produced by Inspired Life Films and Fabled Motion Pictures and released in theaters September 11, 2009 and on DVD November 10, 2009 by its distributor, Cloud Ten Pictures. It was shot on location along the Spring River in Arkansas, on an extremely tight $40,000 budget.
Contents

The river within trailer
Plot

"What am I doing here?" is a question that has haunted Jason (Josh Odor) ever since he heard his dad utter it prior to his death. Now, fresh out of law school, and with an upcoming bar examination to prepare for, the highly motivated and strictly disciplined Jason returns to the small Southern United States town he grew up in to spend the summer studying. He quickly reconnects with his old friends Paul (Craig Luttrell) and Layla (Jaclyn Friedlander), but it is an encounter with David (Craig Morris), a pastor at a local church, that changes his life forever. David offers Jason a part-time summer job as a youth director, and he reluctantly accepts it. But as he gets to know the kids and their personal struggles, he begins to discover a passion that he didn't know existed within him; and he soon realizes that his dad's lifelong question has now become his own.
Cast
Filming
The River Within was filmed in Northeast Arkansas in the summer of 2008. Various locations included the Spring River, the Arkansas Methodist Medical Center, Shiloh and Campground Methodist Churches, and the Collins Theater, where the 1941 world premiere of The Man Who Came to Dinner starring Bette Davis took place.
The film's budget only allowed for 16 days of shooting. In order to save money on hotels, most of the cast and crew slept in guest rooms or pool houses that belonged to the director's family and friends in Paragould. "Wherever we could cut corners on the budget, we did," Heath said.
Release
The River Within was released in select theaters in Tennessee, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Louisiana on September 11, 2009. The film was released on DVD on November 10, 2009.
References
The River Within WikipediaThe River Within IMDb The River Within themoviedb.org