Disappointment for a huge fan!

Boring, long, and too preachy.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The long and the short of it for me was this. The acting is flat and as expressive as a Japanese banker. The leading man is so passive he appears bored; flat timbreless voice, no body language at all. Result? Well, how do you expect the viewer to get involved? If you don't care, why should we? The token 'love interest' is contrived and unconvincing and with no feeling displayed on screen, apart from some attempt at portraying something through here eyes, but, again, this didn't communicate any emotion to me. Even the plot I found to be predictable, empty and totally free of impact. I enjoy quiet, thoughtful, moody films, but they must convey a message, transmit feeling. This did nothing of the sort.

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...

The corpse of a private school student (played by Thomas Gibson in flashbacks) is found in a frozen river near a small town. The local authorities would prefer to dismiss the case as a simple suicide or an accident, but an honest cop named Abel Grey (Edward Burns) cannot ignore the clues pointing to a more complex truth. Perhaps a female student Carlin (Rachelle Lefevre) knows more about the case? A kind and beautiful female teacher Betsy (Jennifer Ehle) might also be able to help.The film is clearly work of professionals: the direction, photography and music give no reason to complain, but the movie is not without its problems. My main criticism is the lead character Abel who is left a somewhat blank and uninteresting vanilla hero in the end. Some brief scenes casting light on his childhood traumas aren't enough to make him appear as a real, living person, and the handsome but uncharismatic Edward Burns cannot bring him to life either. The other main character, the young man that is found in the river at the beginning, is a much more riveting character and left me wishing I had learned more about his inner life. The redheaded Carlin character would also have deserved more attention at the expense of Abel.Ultimately The River King is a watchable if somewhat forgettable mystery tale. There are occasional highlights, the haunting ending being an obvious example, but overall the film doesn't grab the attention of the audience very tightly and just slips by for the most part. It's not really a bad film though, so watch it if the premise sounds interesting to you.

A lot of effort went into the shooting of this movie. The cinematography is really,for the most part, first rate. And the acting is good. But when you've got a turkey, it can only gobble gobble. It is a silly idea to fool the audience completely. We see ghosts and goblins, sort of, but they are really only the figments of the mind of our hero... I guess. What is on the film, anyway? Does he impregnate that with telekinesis? So the plot meanders along, slower than the semi frozen river and we find out that the original idea that sad sack killed himself is indeed the correct answer. I never read the book, nor shall I. I was so happy when this turkey ended, I would never, ever think of jumping into that river again. The plot is just plain silly, except for the buffed cop gets the school marm instead of the aesthete. That's the way it always happens in Hollywood, or Canada, in this case. Ho-Hum.