The River King [DVD]

Abel's partner Joey Tosh (John Kapelos) is more than prepared to treat the death as an accident or a suicide, but as Abel sees a small boy in the woods by the riverbank, when no one else sees him, he begins to realize that the death of Guy is probably far more than just an accident. In order to track down the truth, Abel turns to Carlin Leander (Rachelle Lefevre), a swim team member who was Gus's only apparent friend.

Carlin is shattered at Guy's death and confesses to Abel that her close friendship with Guy made her bullying boyfriend jealous, but the more significant confession is that some of the students at Chalk Hall have been involved in strange initiation rights in the woods that involve smearing each other with their own blood, even the townsfolk admit that the Hall gives them the "creeps."

As Abel uncovers this web of intrigue, he finds that Guy's death is just one more episode in a School that is has been mired in corruption and police payoffs. But Abel also has his own demons to contend with – his own brother Frank committed suicide, and as he tries to connect with his father, he must also come to terms with the terrible mistake that led to his Frank's death. Perhaps his affair with the lovely Betsy (Jennifer Ehle) a sophisticated photography teacher at the local school will help him exorcise his insecurities.

The River King is peppered with clues: fecal matter is found in Guy's lungs; Betsy finds smudges in the pictures she takes that look as though they contain a face: a ghost, perhaps; a photo appears of a girl on a swim team, there's an enigmatic Chinese box, a mysterious red rose, and a scarf is found near the stream where Guy's body was found. It's all very puzzling, but the problem is that none of it really comes together that well.

Based on Alice Hoffman's novel of the same name, The River King can't really decide what it wants to be. There are some creepy, atmospheric moments reminiscent of a ghost story, but it's also trying to be a psychological thriller, and even a murder mystery. British director Nick Willing and screenwriter David Lane seem confused on how to approach the novel, consequently it all comes across as a bit of a mishmash of genres. They've put some good elements of all three into a movie that doesn't satisfy any single set of criteria for either a good genre movie or a story well told. It all comes across as one step above a made for TV cable movie.

Perhaps then, the best reason to see The River King is Ed Burns. He's one of the most dynamic, attractive, yet criminally underused actors working today and it's terrific to see him in such a meaty lead role, playing the hunky but kind-hearted classy good guy.

Obviously we keep watching because we want to know how Gus died, and why, but each revelation is so broadly telegraphed that they defy belief and most lines of inquiry are never to be resolved. The eventual dramatic payoff comes across as rather wimpy and obligatory, and it is only Abel's his unresolved feelings about his brother Frank that give the film any adequate sense of closure. Mike Leonard January 06.