The River King (2005)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Nick Willing

Writers:

Alice Hoffman (novel)
David Kane (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 October 2005 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

It's the truth that haunts us

Plot:

Abel Grey is sent to investigate the death of a boy from an exclusive local school, who is found floating in the river...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Edward Burns	...	Abel Grey
Jennifer Ehle	...	Betsy Chase
Thomas Gibson	...	August 'Gus' Pierce
John Kapelos	...	Joey Tosh
Jamie Thomas King	...	Harry McKenna (as Jamie King)
Rachelle Lefevre	...	Carlin Leander
Bruce Murphy	...	Joey's Son
David Gibson McLean	...	Young Abel (as David Maclean)
Julian Rhind-Tutt	...	Eric Herman
Ross Petty	...	The Dean
David Christoffel	...	Matt Farris
Richard Fitzpatrick	...	Police Chief
Karl Pruner	...	Walter Pierce
Jonathan Malen	...	Nathaniel Gibb
Jeff A. Wright	...	Robbie (as Jeff Wright)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violent images.

Runtime:

USA:95 min (DVD version) | Canada:99 min

Country:

Canada | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-11 | Italy:T | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Kismet Film Company

Trivia:

At the end of the film, Abel's father, Ernest, recalls how Abel's brother had hugged him the day that he committed suicide. Ernest then remarks that he found it strange because it wasn't Frank's way. This dialogue is taken directly from a scene where Abel is talking to his mother rather than his father.

Goofs:

Continuity: The scene where Abel and Joey are driving in town and Joey honks the police car horn at Doreen Barker has numerous continuity errors. There are four camera angles: one angle is from the hood of the police car looking down the street, the second angle is from the hood of the police car and shows Abel and Joey up close, and the third and fourth angles are wide angles showing the police car and the entire street. The most noticeable errors are as follows: The number of cars following the police car and the distance between them and the police car changes from angle to angle; The make and model cars shown driving in the opposite direction before and after passing the police car change from angle to angle; Just before Joey honks the horn at Doreen you see two women walking down the street. The first woman, presumably Doreen, is walking on the sidewalk towards the police car and is wearing a blue hat without a purse over her shoulder. As Joey honks the horn he turns his head as if to look back at Doreen yet the very next camera angle shows Doreen wearing a white hat, red scarf, and different color blue jeans with a purse on her shoulder. She is also now walking in the opposite direction of the police car which has not yet passed her. As the police car passes Doreen you can clearly see that Joey is no longer riding in the police car.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Joey Tosh: Get in there!

Soundtrack:

Life In A Day

Some Truths Are Better off Hidden

In the city of Hadin, when two children find the body of the student Gus Pierce (Thomas Gibson) underneath the frozen water of the River King, the policeman Abel Grey (Edward Burns) is assigned for the investigation. The dean of the powerful and conservative local Haddan School where Gus studied, afraid of a possible scandal, tells the police that the outcast boy committed suicide. But Abel, after interviewing his best girlfriend, Carlin Leander (Rachelle Lefreve), suspects that Gus was victim of a hazing of the Order of the Elect, a secret society of the Chalk House. Along his investigation, Abel, who has a trauma with the loss of his brother Frank years ago, finds corruption in his department and love with the teacher Betsy Chase (Jennifer Ehle). In the end, he discloses the truth about the death of Gus, and resolves his innermost issues with the ghost of Frank.

"The River King" is a pleasant low budget dramatic thriller, with a very good story, acting, direction and cinematography. The story and the characters are very well developed in a suitable pace and I particularly liked very much the performance of Edward Burns. Surprisingly this simple and efficient film is much underrated in IMDb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Mistério de River King" ("The Mystery of River King")