First review dismisses 'River Queen' as disjointed and confusing

The script for Samantha Morton, who starred with Cliff Curtis, reduced her to looking 'devastated or frightened'.

An early review of River Queen has dismissed the multimillion-dollar film as being "both underwritten and confusing".

The review, by the Hollywood Reporter critic Michael Rechtshaffen, is a blow for the film, which only last week received its first international exposure at the Toronto International Film Festival. In contrast, the influential entertainment magazine glowed positively about In My Father's Den. High praise also flowed for Whale Rider.

Rechtshaffen said River Queen was "filled with some striking imagery but which ultimately keeps viewer involvement at an unfathomable distance".

The script reduced Morton to looking either devastated or frightened.

"All those haunting, Alun Bollinger-photographed mist-shrouded mountains and shimmering rivers can't compensate for a distinct disjointedness to the entire production."

Online movie site, imdb.com, was more upbeat. Ten site users gave it an average rating of 7.4 out of 10.

River Queen is a 19th century period drama, which tells of an Irishwoman, played by Samantha Morton, caught between warring Maori and British forces as she searches for her lost son. Kiefer Sutherland, Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis also star.

The film, which was partly funded by the Film Commission and the Film Production Fund, almost didn't make it to the screen. Morton was hospitalised, Curtis crashed his car into a house on the way to filming and director Vincent Ward was sacked, as filming delays pushed costs over the $23 million budget.

Film Commission chief executive Ruth Harley doubts if one review will have a huge impact on the film's North American marketing.

"I say this because firstly, a lot of the people who will be looking at purchasing the film will have seen it at the Toronto screenings themselves. Secondly, there will be a range of reviews, so it is just one review."

Dr Harley was at one of the film's three screenings in Toronto, where she said it was "well-received". There was applause and a lengthy question-and-answer session with the director and two producers, she said.

Three New Zealand films - River Queen, The World's Fastest Indian and 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous - screened at Toronto, and all three had good screenings, said Dr Harley.

* River Queen is set for a world premiere in Wanganui on January 24.

Victims of River Queen

Star actress Samantha Morton: Hospitalised for weeks, which held up filming.

Co-star Cliff Curtis: Crashed his four-wheel-drive into a house.

Director Vincent Ward: Sacked as filming delays blew the film's $23 million budget.

The movie: Allegedly cursed by a local Maori chief. Now facing the world's film reviewers.