The plot, set in 1927, recalls Elia Kazan’s 1960 Wild Rivera recalcitrant Vermont log driver (Rip Torn) refuses to sell his property lease so that the region’s first big hydroelectric dam can be builtbut this sincere, carefully made independent feature by Jay Craven, adapted by him and Don Bredes from a novel by Howard Frank Mosher, has plenty of distinctive elements. The most impressive is a wonderful, richly detailed performance by Tantoo Cardinal (Dances With Wolves) as the eccentric Native American woman who lives with the log driver. Shot entirely on location, this film also boasts a cast that includes Michael J. Fox and Bill Raymond in smaller roles and cameos by Treat Williams and Amy Wright. (JR)