“Rabbit Hole” A Tragic Yet Uplifting Drama
Directed by John Cameron Mitchell (writer and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch), and adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire from his own 2005 Pulitzer winning play, Rabbit Hole is an American drama centered around a formerly happily married couple (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) whose life is turned upside down by the untimely death of their 4-year-old son, Danny.
The film begins about 8 months after his death, and both Becca (Kidman) and Howie (Eckhart) are struggling to heal from their trauma together, and find themselves coping with their grief in different ways. Howie finds a solemn pleasure in interacting with videos of Danny he has kept, and sneaking the occasional peek into Danny’s still furnished and toy-adorned room in the hope that he will find his son poking his head out from under his bed. Becca is slowly, one day at a time, removing parts of her son from the house. The pain of looking at his drawings on the fridge and his fingerprints on the door frame is just too much to cope with. Danny had chased their dog out onto the street and had been hit by a car. While the circumstances are tragic and no one (not even the driver) is to blame, none can help but blame themselves. Had Becca not answered the phone just before the incident, had Howie not bought the dog in the first place, and had the driver been a few kilometers under the speed limit, all could have been avoided.
Becca and Howie have been attending nightly meetings for parents of deceased children, but Becca has found it to become increasingly frustrating, and decided to discontinue going. Howie continues to attend, but finds a means of escape through Gabby (Sandra Oh), one of the women from the support group. Becca starts meeting the young teenager driver who hit her son. They converse and share his artistic talents and ultimately find understanding and comfort from one another. Their private decisions may bring individual comfort but it puts strain on their marriage when they are uncovered. Both put on brave faces in front of one another, and their families, but it is evident that not all the wounds have healed. Howie begins to stray from his faith to Becca and has a number of aggressive blowups at his wife, while Becca even slaps a woman in the supermarket when she overreacts to some disagreeable parenting.
Many will think that this seems way too heavy and depressing to be enjoyable, and I thought the same thing after seeing the trailer. But I was very surprised how much I liked it. I found the story tragic, but it is kept engaging by the strength of the performances, and it is ultimately uplifting. Kidman, who has received much acclaim for what is surely one of her greatest performances, is sensational. I really liked her in this role, and I normally do not. Not only does she she have to personally overcome her guilt and suppress her grief, she has to try and prove that she is coping. The contradictory emotions that are coursing through her body are perfectly balanced. She can’t bear to part with the memories of her son, but she knows it is necessary to get her life back on the right track and for her to once again socialize with former friends she has pushed away. The scenes between her and Jason, when they discuss the possibility of parallel universes and that a happier version of their lives exists out there in space and time, is especially touching. She has received a series of nominations for her performance, including at next weekend’s Academy Awards. I don’t think she will beat out Natalie Portman or Annette Bening, but it just confirms that the quality of the performances this year is vastly superior to recent years.
I have never seen Aaron Eckhart better either. I have heard a few negative criticisms about his chemistry with Kidman, but I didn’t see it personally. Dianne Wiest also provides great support as Becca’s mother Nat (who had also faced the grief of losing her only son), and it is exciting to see the great Giancarlo Esposito back in film. He stars as Auggie, the boyfriend of Becca’s sister, Izzy (Tammy Blanchard). The excellent screenplay is handled sensitively by John Cameron Mitchell, who purposefully allows the camera to remain with it’s characters to fully capture every nuance of their emotions. The suburban setting is sharply photographed and the beautiful backing score accompanies the action well. It was also humorous at times to keep it lighter than it certainly could have been.
I really enjoyed Rabbit Hole, and much like Mike Leigh’s Another Year, it is a painfully honest depiction of genuine people placed under the strain of significant changes to their lives. The event cannot be reversed of course, but how they choose to move on with their lives is at the center of tender examination here. Nicole Kidman is superb, and is one of many reasons to make an effort to see it.
B+
(8/10)
Have you seen it? Where do you think Rabbit Hole stands amongst all of Nicole Kidman’s performances?
![Watch: Creepy Trailer for Slasher Pic ‘Maniac’ [NSFW]](http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/themes/yamidoo_pro/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/elijah-wood-maniac-tb.jpg&w=50&h=50&zc=1)
13 Comments
I really liked this one as well. The trailer, especially the “God can make his own angels” part, had me anxiously awaiting this, and it did not disappoint. This movie was just so damn blunt at times that I couldn’t help but love the screenplay.
Kidman was superb, as was Wiest, but I couldn’t help but feel that the only part of this movie that held it back was Eckhart. As a whole he wasn’t terrible, but the one particular scene where he has to have the big argument with Kidman was downright laughable.
To me, Eckhart has always been an actor that can be perfectly suitable for most roles, just as long as he doesn’t have to get too emotional and start yelling. This movie and The Dark Knight are perfect examples of him going overboard and therefor becoming unbelievable, while movies like Thank You for Smoking show that he can be quite good if the director is able to control how much effort he puts forth.
I finally saw the film on my laptop this Saturday and really liked it. I was more impressed at how John Cameron Mitchell was able to just play it straight and really underplay the drama. Even in taking some dramatic choices and not really go overboard.
I think he’s becoming much better as a director and I’m anxious for what he does next.
I’m a bit pissed off that Aaron Eckhart isn’t nominated because I really liked his performance. He was able to loosen up a bit and also be a guy that is just trying to find something. I liked the scenes he had with Sandra Oh.
I haven’t really liked Nicole Kidman very much in her recent films but after watching her in this. She’s won me over again. I just hope she makes better film choices and just really do material as good as this.
I thought the more tender moments with Nicole was where he impressed, but as Red mentions above, that one scene where he loses control was over-the-top just slightly. I’m not sure I would have nominated him though. I normally don’t like Nicole either, but from the opening moments I loved her performance. The scene at the bowling alley was the highlight for me!
Rabbit Hole may sound bleak, and it surely is at times, but its refreshingly new take on the subject coupled with Kidman’s mammoth performance make it a rewarding experience. Good review, check out my film when you can!
Great review Andrew! With a wife and young son of my own, this one hit real close to home.
Kidman gives the finest performance by an actress this year, and of her career.
I also agree with Red that Eckhart is simply not equipped to meet Kidman’s level. But then again, not many are.
Thanks Rick. I saw you selected Nicole as ‘Should win’ for Best Actress. Strong group of nominees this year in that category.
In some of those pictures, Nicole Kidman almost looks like her pre-facial clusterfuck self, then comes the third picture ahah
Nice review, Andrew. I’m intrigued by this one and glad to hear it’s not as bleak as the trailer makes it out to be. I appreciate Nicole starring in someone a bit more grounded and relatable. I saw bits and pieces of Australia on TV around Christmas and thought she looks like a plastic doll, VERY unattractive. She plays too many ‘icy queen’ roles IMO, but it’s nice that she can still pull off portraying a regular woman.
Great review. I had serious concern that this film was just going to be “emotion porn”, but I actually quite enjoyed it (if “enjoy” is the right word). The performances are great, and the dialogue felt generally very real.
However, I couldn’t help but find Nicole Kidman’s character intensely unsympathetic. Of the many disagreements and fights throughout the film, I never once found myself siding with her, and I ended up finding this extremely frustrating.
Still, a good film worth watching, although not quite as strong as ANOTHER YEAR in my own opinion.
I surprisingly found myself sympathizing with Nicole’s character, even when she slapped that woman in the store. She got me hooked early on, and I knew that her character was going to be most genuine way to relate to the film. I had concerns too, but it is a film capable of enjoyment. I don’t think it was as strong as ANOTHER YEAR though either.
I couldn’t quite convince my girlfriend to see this – so I missed it. Maybe I’ll catch it on dvd.
I’ve found of all the movies I watched this year, this one is one of the few that sat real well in my mind. It hasn’t weakened the farther I’ve gotten from it and I think that’s a highly appreciable quality in a film.
I think that’s a very appreciable quality. Rabbit Hole sits well with me too. A lot of 2010 films still sit well with me, and some, like Black Swan, have actually been better, on the second viewing. A film like The Town, has weakened for me. It’s a good judge of the effect that the film has on you when you still can’t shake it weeks and months later…
Trackbacks