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:

Suicide | Teacher | Hazing | Policeman | Head Held Under Water

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:

How Will I Sleep?

King of Fizzle

I like to like movies that qualify as small gems. TRK had all the potential for such and, for the first forty minutes or so, looked to qualify. The acting wasn't bad (Ed Burns is just a bit too low key) the script is crisp and the pacing, shoot and story suspenseful. Indeed there were a dozen different prospects for; e.g., who the bad guy was going to be. I can't agree with some of the other comments herein that there was enough mood, fine acting, dialog, etc., to distinguish TRK as excellent cinema. But again, after more than a half hour I'm totally absorbed by the plot potential.

It is almost as if TRK sets up the viewer for a thousand possibilities only to intentionally fulfill absolutely none of them. A move "fizzles" when it paints itself into a corner then escapes in a clumsy manner. TRK paints itself into a corner and then climbs out a window. Again, there are not enough fine points about this movie to make it enjoyable on another level. Virtually every aspect of the build-up centers on facts, twists, questions, etc., that go unanswered. It is truly difficult to imagine what the makers of TRK wanted the viewer to enjoy about this movie.