Deliverance (1972)

I had to watch this film in my Philosophy in Film class and it was awful. I literally want the two hours of my life back.
The whole thing was stupid. It started out well enough, with four friends going on a great canoe adventure before the river is torn up and made into something more commercial. Yet, the men don't have a plan, instead they decide things on the fly and are sorely punished for it. They go down river, facing some dangerous rapids but largely, everything is okay. And then, the next morning, two of the men, Ed and Bobby (Jon Voight and Ned Beatty) stop because they see other people. These men are mountain men and not in the least bit nice. In fact, the two men are assaulted at gunpoint. Luckily, the other canoe which contains Lewis and Drew (Burt Reynolds and Ronny Cox) arrives and Lewis is able to kill one of the men with an arrow. Then comes the debate on what to do with the body. Drew wants to find the highway patrol because this is a justifiable homicide but all the other men agree to bury the body, which they do. Then they get on with their way, but something is wrong with Drew. He doesn't put his life jacket back on and appears almost to be in a daze. Then another quick area of rapids arrive, thrusting Drew overboard and the other men out of the canoes. Lewis is horribly injured, with bits of muscle from his leg coming out of his pants and Drew is nowhere to be found. Then Ed proceeds to climb up this dangerous rock wall just to find the other men from the sexual assault and kill him, which he does. Never mind Lewis is dangerously injured down below. And this is done because they believe that Drew was shot, refusing to believe that he killed himself over having to live with killing a man and not reporting it to the proper authorities. So, with the other man dead, Ed returns to the canoes and the journey continues, finding Drew's lifeless body along the way. They arrive at their destination and finally medical attention is given to the gravely injured Lewis and the slightly injured Ed. But the police don't believe their story. Yet, despite searching from the police, the bodies of the three men are never found. Then again, that is not really surprising because the men lied to the cops about the location of where the incidents happened. Only after the sheriff asks why four life jackets were found, but only three men to go with them are they told to leave and never come back. (The answer Ed gives is the first truth he tells them: that Drew didn't put his back on and he doesn't know why.) Ed returns home to his wife and young son, but the memory of what happened will haunt him for the rest of his life.
I hated plenty of decisions that the men made throughout. Number One: plan ahead people, please. Number Two: try not to kill random people, or do the right thing and alert the authority, especially when you have reason to. Number Three: if one of your friend's is injured find them help, don't kill another man. And know the facts before you do. I have other problems with the film, but these are the main ones.
Now for the good. The film was realistically gritty and contained some good performances, especially from Jon Voight, but that did not stop me from wanting to walk out of the film, even more so than RoboCop (1987). Grade: C-