Don't listen to the negative reviews

Awesome Movie

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

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Me and the wife are very poor at watching TV (at 60 years old we have NEVER had terrestrial TV and only acquired Netflix a couple of years ago) so I cannot base this review on a lot of comparisons. We enjoy these jolly 'cop' dramas though - and this was the usual 'well - let's have a look and see if it's any good'What a joy. The script, the acting - wow. Most of the characters were fine - a couple were annoying but - in general - cast was spot on.Review here say it's slow - mebe that's kinda the society we live in now - lots of consumers want fast paced action and are not capable of giving art a time to develop? I dunno. All I can say is the action is in the dialogue - as well as in the visuals. The final scenes - heart breaking. Took me a couple of minutes to compose myself at the end - no joke. Even thinking of those last 10 minutes now brings tears to my eyes. Now - as far as I am concerned - that is powerful film making!Enjoy!

There are cop dramas, and there are cop dramas. Sometimes the cop dramas that don't want to be like other cop dramas try too hard. But "River" _ a six-part British TV series airing on Netflix _ tries very hard to be different _ and gets it spectacularly right.The story focuses on DI John River (Stellan Skarsgard) who is grappling with the death of his partner, DS Jacqueline "Stevie" Stevenson (Nicola Walker), who is shot to death outside a pub where they had been having dinner.So far, nothing new, right?Think again.It seems that since his youth, River has seen and communicated with dead people. They haunt him (no pun intended), while he's sitting at his desk, attending meetings, interviewing people, driving, riding the subway, sleeping, eating, you name it. And they're not always Casper the Friendly Ghost (like Thomas Neill Cream, "The Lambeth Poisoner," here played by Eddie Marsan, who attempts to goad River into losing his cool).The series opens innocently enough with River and Stevie driving along chatting, laughing and even breaking into song. The first reaction is that this series is going to be slow, slow, slow and hackneyed. Then they stop at a drive-through to order a shake and burger. Something isn't quite right, the communication is off.As they drive on, River thinks he sees a suspect, we don't know for what crime, he bails out of the car and gives chase. His prey, a frightened young man, leaps to his death as Stevie trails behind and radios for backup. Or does she? As she turns and walks away, we notice the back of her head has been blown away.And we're off.Swedish actor Skarsgard is excellent as the brooding lead detective who tries to piece together the murder of his partner, who is also, as we learn, his great love. The ubiquitous Walker ("Spooks," "Last Tango in Halifax," "Unforgotten") is perfect as the wide-eyed, offbeat counterpoint to the stoic River, the female, we can't help but imagine, who could have brought him out of his shell, which makes the whole thing that much more tragic and urgent (Stevie warns River that at some point she will just fade away).The serpentine storyline never gets out of hand to the point of confusion, but challenges us to pay attention to every element, right up until the final denouement in the last part of the last episode. The conclusion is a shocker, but not so much that we think it could never happen in real life (minus the dead people chatting with the detective).Adeel Akhtar is terrific as DS Ira King, River's new sidekick, an innocent tough whose alarm at his detective partner's unconventional ways evolves into true friendship, even if we're never sure whether he thinks River is actually talking to dead people or is merely unbalanced.Sorcha Cusack of the great Cusack family of Irish actors, recently seen as the straight-laced Catholic housekeeper on "Father Brown," polishes off her acting chops as Stevie's angry mother.The rest of the cast is uniformly brilliant, from Marsan's wailing Lambeth Poisoner Cream to Rosa Fellows as the understanding police psychologist and Lesley Manville as the beleaguered head of the homicide unit. Not a weak link in the bunch."River," beautifully photographed in a cool, shadowy style to match its mysterious aura, is worth every moment of its six episodes. But you'll have to pay attention _ and you'll be glad you did.

If I was in charge of Emmy's this woulda won! My lord is this fascinating, suspenseful- so full of heart and soul - it leaves other TV shows in the dust. And I'm not even a big detective type series- person- I used to tend to sappy romance but that works for film- but it seems on TV- the detective shows seem to shine.Where to start? The lead character is AWESOME. Wow. What acting- so understated- so fascinating to see after all the blustery, hot headed ones out there. He stays cool and reads the situation. His love sidekick- is excellent as well. The story is so well written- writers are top notch- they know how to write a story- and not waste a viewer's time. (so much pulp out there).I had to stay up and finish it... Many great characters- the visuals are stunning. PLEASE MAKE SOME NEW ONES!

The plot was an interesting premise and the acting was very good but each episode was more depressing than the prior one. I kept watching expecting it to get better based on the really high reviews but it just didn't. John River was the most morose lunatic yet remained employed!?!? The action and story line developed very slowly and I found that extremely tedious. But the long lingering close ups of the depressed lead character really made it difficult to watch. Having sat through all six episodes I can only say I regret the waste of time. Netflix viewers gave it one star -- I will give more credence to their reviews in the future.