The River Rat is a 1984 independent family film directed by Thomas Rickman and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Martha Plimpton.

The two slowly forge a relationship as they rebuild a boat named The River Rat.

The father cannot escape his criminal past, being blackmailed by the prison psychiatrist Doc Cole, who believes he knows the location of a large amount of cash stolen before imprisonment.

The film was written and directed by Thomas Rickman, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1980 for his screenplay of Coal Miner's Daughter, also starring Tommy Lee Jones.

[3] Rickman wrote the initial draft of The River Rat in the 70s after graduating from the American Film Institute, but no meaningful development came of the script until the success of the Coal Miner's Daughter.