B ring on Ozzie the Otter!
A gloriously composed nature documentary, “Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers,” is a serious-minded movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
A natural complement to Austin filmmaker Ben Masters’ Texas gems, “The River and the Wall” and “Deep in the Heart,” it tangles with complex, sometimes inscrutable water policies; the threat to the state’s 7,000 dams from silting and evaporation; a string of heartrending natural disasters made worse by human hands; and, conversely, major wins for dedicated river conservationists of all stripes.
One particular triumph saved the hardwood bottomlands along the surprisingly wild Neches River in East Texas from the deep thirst of North Texas metros. Another is the unification of mountain megafauna on lands that straddle the Rio Grande near Big Bend, a modern achievement threatened by efforts to fence the region that accounts for about 1% of undocumented migration.
Hitting Texas nature’s high notes
At the same time, Masters knows what we want from this visually rapturous movie, nimbly narrated by Austin native Ethan Hawke.
- Strange plants and animals with seemingly supernatural powers.
- Extreme weather. Lots of it.
- Predators chasing prey, with or without the messy part at the end.
- Juvenile animals cavorting around like so many of our own children.
- Maybe a little West Texas prehistory, told to remind us how long humans have been vigilant about the gravity, physical and spiritual, of our rivers.
Yet for this movie, Masters and his crack team have not forgotten a key demographic: adorable river critters…