Sometimes a drama comes along that’s subject matter affects you right down to the core. As a result you dwell on the film for days afterwards… that is certainly the case with ‘Rabbit Hole’. It is impossible to watch this film and not get emotionally involved… and that is mainly thanks to emotive script that its screenwriter, David Lindsay-Abaire (‘Inkheart’, ‘Robots’) should be really proud of.
Based on his play of the same name Lindsay-Abaire’s script follows the lives of married couple, Howie (Aaron Eckhart – ‘World Invasion: Battle L.A.’, ‘Love Happens’) and Becca (Nicole Kidman – ‘Nine’, ‘Australia’) after their four-year-old son is killed after he is hit by a car driven by quiet high school student, Jason (Miles Teller – ‘A Very SpecificRecipe’, TV’S ‘The Unusuals’) outside their home. The film shows how both Howie and Becca personally struggle with the tragedy while Becca must face the fact that her own sister, Izzy (Tammy Blanchard – ‘The Music Never Stopped’, TV’S ‘The Good Wife’) falls pregnant. Howie chooses to attend group therapy where he finds comfort with Gaby (Sandra Oh – TV’S ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ & ‘American Dad!’), while Becca lashes out at people including her mother, Nat (Dianne Wiest – ‘Rage’, TV’S ‘In Treatment’) while finding solace by talking to Jason and reading the comic he has developed.
Some people might criticize ‘Rabbit Hole’ because of its slowness and because of the fact that it doesn’t actually begin with the accident that killed the son, but I feel these points actually enhance the film. To make a fast-paced drama would detract the audience from the fact that the film centres around sorrow, while I’m sure that director, John Cameron Mitchell (‘Shortbus’, ‘Hedwig & The Angry Inch’) would argue that the film is about the aftermath of the accident, not the accident itself.
Teamed up together, Mitchell and Lindsay-Abaire have managed to create one of the best character driven films of all time. The script allows you such access to Becca and Howie that you can’t help but bond with either or both of them. The secondary characters are also sensationally presented… certainly no one-dimensional characters here.
While most of the acting attention from ‘Rabbit Hole’ has been focused on Nicole Kidman it is crime that more hasn’t been said about Aaron Eckhart. Kidman is good but Eckhart blows her right out of the water. This is one of his finest acting performances (even better than his role in ‘The Dark Knight’), the emotion that he puts into some scenes has to be seen to be believed. He is also well supported by Sandra Oh who shows she has more acting range than we have seen on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.
Some brilliant acting performances teamed up with a sensational script result in a drama that deserves all its Oscars buzz. Emotive and thought-provoking ‘Rabbit Hole’ will upset some and it totally engrosses its audience. A brilliant film…well worth the admission price.
Year: 2010
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Nicole Kidman, Miles Teller, Tammy Blanchard, Sandra Oh, Dianne Wiest
Classification: M
Runtime: 91 mins
Rating: 