Takes an intimate, well-balanced and riveting look into moral leadership during a time of national crisis. The film places particular emphasis on the young Senator Kerry's bravery during the Vietnam War and his courageous opposition to the war upon his return. George Butler interviewed all of the living Swift Boat veterans who were on Kerry's two boats, thus rendering a comprehensive view of the Vietnam experience. More than a biography, GOING UP RIVER is the story of an American generation that came of age in the tumultuous sixties, and that has came to national leadership at the beginning of a new century - when issues of war and morality once again hold center stage.