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The River King
Abel Grey is sent to investigate the death of a boy from an exclusive local school, who is found floating in the river. Fearing scandal, the school insists it was suicide. But after discovering from the boy's girlfriend, Carlin, that he was being badly bullied, Abel suspects that a dangerous schoolboy initiation has gone horribly wrong and he secretly solicits the help of a sympathetic teacher, Betsy. He is warned off the investigation by his boss, as the school is a generous benefactor to the Police benevolent fund. Abel, however, cannot let the case go, not only because his own brother committed suicide years before, but also it seems that the spirit of the dead boy is leaving them clues as to what really happened that night.
| Release : | 2005 |
| Rating : | 5.7 |
| Studio : | Myriad Pictures, Téléfilm Canada, Spice Factory, |
| Crew : | Director of Photography, CGI Supervisor, |
| Cast : | Edward Burns Jennifer Ehle John Kapelos Rachelle Lefevre Julian Rhind-Tutt |
| Genre : | Drama Thriller Mystery |
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Reviews
Truly Dreadful Film
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Okay... The direction, cinematography, the mood, and the pacing were done brilliantly and were truly captivating. And, unlike other reviewers here, I REALLY like Edward Burns; I think he is a cool kat in the vein of a milder Ben Affleck (PLEASE, do yourself a HUGE favour and watch 'CONFIDENCE'; DAMN good film!!!) BUT... And it is a BIG BUT like Mariah Carey's... It just isn't that terribly imaginative or deep. So, if you like your films very simple and straight-forward, you might like it. HOWEVER... If, like me, you like to have a little more mystery, imagination, and flavour in your movies, the ending of this film will leave you flatter than Chaz Bono...The movie is very well made, but, anyone who enjoys a bit more mystery and other-worldly flavour in their films should steer away and watch something else, because it is highly likely the ending will greatly disappoint you.Thus the extreme disparity and polarized reviews of this film...
I found the book this movie is based on frustrating and annoying and the characters' actions incomprehensible. The switching POVs are distracting and ineptly done. (Dear Alice Hoffman: You are not John Irving. Third Person Ominiscient is hard to do and rarely effective.) I watched the movie hoping for more fully fleshed out motivations, but instead found the director had fairly closely replicated the novel. We lose... Fine actors give wooden and ponderous performances (Jennifer Ehle is one of my favorite actress and you wasted her...) and the story is as muddy as the creek which figures so prominently in the story. And the characters' actions are *still* incomprehensible, as though the director had been so busy in the editing room making moody little visual sequences, he'd had no time left to actually direct the performers.I employed the same coping method for the movie that I used for the book; halfway through I started to skim and with the movie, when I couldn't take all the painful staring and plodding performances, I fit the FF button...It gets two stars because I loved Jennifer Ehle in "Pride and Prejudice" and because the kid's long black coat is cool...
I like Burns, he does all he can with this part. But, I detest movies with no conclusion, and this one is one of those. You could leave at any time, and know as much as those of us dumb enough to stick it out to the end.Great visuals, good music. Beautiful winter scenes. A couple of nasty guys who you'd like to see put in their place. A nice Streep-clone girlie figure. She's engaged to one of they nasty guys. But, why is she in the story at all? Even a ghost is thrown into the cast.Odd love scenes .... he and she are just talking, then suddenly sucking face like they were magnetized. When they pull apart, you almost miss the "plop" sound from cartoons. They swear off each other, agree to call it quits, and then get right back to swapping spit.I can see why this went straight to DVD .... somebody had the brains to save the distribution and promO costs, and cut their losses.
"The River King" was not much of a king at the box office probably because there was no box office. It was because it went straight to DVD. Unfortunately, its play at some of the Canada film festivals was not enough for distributors to deep into their pockets to circulate "The River King" to theatrical releases. I could see why! The film is like your basic ABC Sunday Night Movie of the Week (they still have that?). Ed Burns stars as Abel Grey, a northern small-town detective who gets unraveled in a death of a young college boy. The young lad's death was called a suicide even though Grey sees it in more "Shades of Grey" and thinks it more as a homicide. Abel also has issues with his brother Cain! Wait! This is not a religious epic! What I meant to say that Grey is also dramatized by the childhood experience of witnessing his older brother commit suicide. Could the two be connected? Director Nick Willing did a formidable job in depicting the northern small town experience. However, Willing was not willing to push the envelope and provide us a more thought-provoking narrative. I am an avid fan of Burns , but I do not think that the Northern cop thing suits Eddie. It was a cold decision for him to take this role. You will love the northern exposure of "The River King" but the murder mystery aspects will drown you with boredom. *** Average
