Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Waterlogged king, 4 Feb 2007
A murder mystery at an elite school, wrapped in the silent chill of a snowy winter. Why not? Well, "The River King" shows that a movie needs a coherent plot as well as a unique style, but it belly flops painfully with its uninspiring acting, meandering storyline, and an ending that completely bombs.
Student Gus Pierce (Thomas Gibson) is found frozen in the river. Cop Abel Grey (Edward Burns) investigates the elite prep school that Gus attended, trying to find out if it was an accident, suicide, or murder -- any of them is possible, since Gus was quite angry. Abel also finds time to romance a teacher at the school (Jennifer Ehle).
But the mystery of Gus's death is that no one seems to care -- his classmates despised him, and the police drop the case without warning, despite signs of foul play. But with his personal demons emerging, Abel continues investigating the case, suspecting it of being a hazing gone wrong -- and discovers that he may have been wrong all along.
But if you must adjust a book's plot for a movie, then at least it should make sense. And for seventy-five percent of "River King," the plot seems like a straightforward murder mystery, framed in beautiful New England houses, snow, icy rivers and sleeping trees. Okay, the actual investigations could be covered in fifteen minutes rather than an hour, but it's all right.
Then... it all comes apart. Burns and Ehle's relationship feels thrown in (does obsession let you have breaks for romance?). Director Nick Willing and writer David Kane try to make this a jack-of-all-trades film, with the token romance, ghost stories, murder mystery, and a creepy philosophical high school club. Most of these subplots are touched on just long enough to make them seem bizarre, but not enough to make them a part of the movie.
And the finale makes no sense -- after dozens of clues, sinister coverups, and glaringly obvious murder, Willing and Kane decide to throw a "shocking twist" into the finale. Except it's not a twist -- suddenly the whole lone-wolf murder mystery becomes a catalyst for Abel's family problems. It's a MASSIVE anticlimax that feels like a sandbag whack in the face. Viewers are left with nothing. At all.
Burns does what he can with his role, even though Abel is somnolent at best. The only scenes where he gets to show what he can do is when Abel is angry. And he has zero chemistry with Jennifer Ehle, who does a nice job despite a paper-thin character and bad wig. Rachelle Lefevre is the only actress who gets to play a character of any dimensions -- the slightly off galpal of Gus'.
"The River King" had so much promise, but it bogs down in its glacial plot and absurdist ending. Even Ehle and Burns can't save this soggy, cold little mess.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Weird but watchable, 2 Mar 2007
At the end of this film I was left wondering 'what was all that about?'
Having said that, it's not a bad movie, but neither is it a great movie.
The premise is a kid from a posh local school is found dead in a frozen river. The cops seem uninterested, convinced he committed suicide, except for one, who is keen to pursue the case despite the apathy or his partner and superiors.
'Was it murder or suicide', 'Did he jump or was he pushed', 'Is there a supernatural element or isn't there?', 'Did the cops supress evidence or not?', 'Was he influenced by his brother's death or not?'
All these questions are unanswered. So in some ways it is unsatisfactory.
However, the acting is solid and as a whole and the movie entertains for it's duration.
If you can put up with the rest and a plot has lots of holes, give it a go.
It's not too bad and you might find what I missed!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The River King - a Good "Who Dun it ?", 9 Feb 2007
There were several things which attracted me to this film. One was, that I'm a sucker for a good suspense mystery, the second reason was the presence of Jennifer Ehle, and the third was that of Ed Burns.
Directed by Nick Willing, The River Kings opens with the discovery of a young man's body shown buried under ice (this film was mostly shot in New England) in similar fashion to Nicole Kidman's 'To Die For'.
From then on it becomes the goal of detectives,one of whom is Abel, played by Ed Burns, to discover how this boy died.
The proximity of the body to an exclusive private shool and the discovery of the dead boys school scarf in the snow nearby, lead police to the school to identify the victim and to trace his last days on earth.
They discover a clandestine secret society which involves an induction organized by the older boys - known today as hazing.
So what happened to the victim ? How did he die ?
Whilst Abel suspects hazing to be the cause of death he is inexplicably warned off the idea by his Boss,his partner, and also by the schools head master, who want the matter closed and for suicide to be recorded as the cause of death.
Ed Burns, the one constant character throughout this story, was first rate as Abel Gray,Jennifer Ehle plays a teacher who teaches English and Photography and is sympathetic to Abel's opinons, is not as effective as she was in Pride and Prejudice. Her American accent is wonky despite her being half American,and I felt her talent should have been put to better use in the River King than was the case.
The teacher is asked to photograph the dead boys room (in the absence of a police photographer) and notices a shadowy figure appearing on the photographs she has taken.
And Abel keeps seeing a small boy in a blue windsheeter who vanishes from view whenever approached, only to reappear at other locations.
These apparitions are explained in due course as Abel and his ageing father face up to their own great loss - the suicide of Abel's older brother many years before.
I found the River King to be a haunting, beautiful and engaging story, and the snow covered landscape of New England to be a perfect backdrop for such a mystery driven film. The photography was perfect,catching the beauty and solitude of the snow fields,and Nick Willing has stamped himself as a director to watch for in the future, his career still being in it's infancy when River King was made.
A joyful experience, a fil that deserves more kudos, it's deserving place in the sun.
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