The haunting poetry in James Dickey’s novel translates well to this 1972 John Boorman movie, in no small part because Dickey wrote the screenplay himself. Burt Reynolds plays a cocky alpha male who persuades three friends – played by Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox – to shed their comfortable big-city trappings for a weekend for a canoe trip down a soon-to-be-dammed Georgia river. What happens next, from the time they drive their vehicle into the backwoods entry point until the weekend is over, is a voyage as indelible as any other cinematic trip. A truly great movie – and impossible to shake off afterward. Also shown at 9:30 p.m. ET.