Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

samkan 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.

misbegotten A British/Canadian production based on a novel by Alice Hoffman, The River King is set during the depths of winter in a small American town dominated by a prestigious university, which funds most of the local economy. When a student is found dead in a frozen river by a uniformed patrolman (played by Edward Burns), he assumes a routine investigation will follow, to establish whether the boy's death was an accident, suicide or due to foul play. However, the university - fearful of a scandal and/or bad publicity - pressurises the local coroner and Burns' police colleagues into immediately declaring that it was suicide. Disquieted by events, Burns proceeds to unofficially investigate the student's death in his own time, and after finding himself confronted by a wall of silence, he starts receiving clues from an apparently supernatural source.The River King is simply a beautifully shot film, and boasts a wonderfully touching and insightful performance from Rachelle Lefevre as the dead student's best friend. The final revelation about what happened on the night the boy died is quietly devastating.

4-Eyes I really liked this and have no idea why it was never in theaters.Yes, you have to think a bit and pull together the story lines for added meaning. A few have remarked that the Jennifer Ehle character was unnecessary, but I don't agree, and I even liked the abruptness of the attraction between her character and Burns'.Their relationship and the thwarted relationship between the girl student and the hazing victim are meant to be contrasted. There is that old saying applied often to love, "Carpe diem -- seize the day." In other words, when love comes calling, don't rationalize it away.The young couple did (at least, she did), and the older couple almost does too.The ambiguous ending of the movie leave the viewer with plenty to think about. I wonder, for instance, why the victim hyperventilated for so long before jumping in the river. I took it to mean he did not intend to drown, but perhaps to do something Houdini-like instead. I also loved the look of it, like a beat-up town in Maine whose entire tax base is a snooty school that has no use for the town except to cover up for it when things go wrong.Yeah, I just liked it.

meeza "The River King" was not much of a king at the box office probably because there was no box office. It was because it went straight to DVD. Unfortunately, its play at some of the Canada film festivals was not enough for distributors to deep into their pockets to circulate "The River King" to theatrical releases. I could see why! The film is like your basic ABC Sunday Night Movie of the Week (they still have that?). Ed Burns stars as Abel Grey, a northern small-town detective who gets unraveled in a death of a young college boy. The young lad's death was called a suicide even though Grey sees it in more "Shades of Grey" and thinks it more as a homicide. Abel also has issues with his brother Cain! Wait! This is not a religious epic! What I meant to say that Grey is also dramatized by the childhood experience of witnessing his older brother commit suicide. Could the two be connected? Director Nick Willing did a formidable job in depicting the northern small town experience. However, Willing was not willing to push the envelope and provide us a more thought-provoking narrative. I am an avid fan of Burns , but I do not think that the Northern cop thing suits Eddie. It was a cold decision for him to take this role. You will love the northern exposure of "The River King" but the murder mystery aspects will drown you with boredom. *** Average