Review: Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole is one of those films that relies heavily on its pre-existence as a critically acclaimed stage play. Unfortunately, it also seems hindered by it. The film works for the same two good reasons that other films-based-on-plays work: the writing and the performances by top-notch actors. And I wouldn't say it fails in anyway, but it certainly feels like it's restricted, like it would love to stretch out a bit now that it's a film, and it just can't. What we do get are brief glimpses of a young couple, played by Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, trying to deal with the death of their young son 8-months on, mainly in settings outside their broken home. And most of the time those glimpses are of only half the couple. Doing odd things without his/her "better half". Coping. Alone.

Something tells me that wasn't the case on stage.

But the glaring attempts at easing the story's restrictiveness are only a little bit distracting in the grander scheme of things. What we're meant to do as filmwatchers is appreciate that much quieter and therefore more introspective moments have been added to the story.

And they have. So we'll say that the adaptation has been a great success and get on with the show.

Now we can concentrate on what's going on with the couple. And to be honest, everything they do feels authentic. They question God, they reject invitations from friends and neighbours, they quietly accuse family and even strangers of lacking empathy, they wrongly judge how others deal with similar loss. But most importantly, they fake the relationship with one another. And this is what's fascinating on screen. We're waiting for this couple to screw up all over the place.

And what really works storywise, is that they only screw up when they're together. And so it becomes all about whether they should be together. They seem to be handling things better on their own.

Ah, so this is why we watched the characters doing all those things by themselves? Gotcha. But did they really do all those things in all those other places, on stage? (This is what I meant by distracting.)

And then it all comes to a head. A very controlled, slow-moving, truthful, mature head. Thank God, because that's very refreshing for a movie these days.

This film may surprise you. It's small in scale but large on universal truth. What it says about repercussions is different and important. It reigns itself in when most movies wouldn't and a lot of that has to be credited to the performers.

I do have to remind myself that I read films like this one differently now that I'm a parent. So the question as a reviewer becomes, would I have enjoyed the film as much had I never been a parent?

I think the answer is yes. But I would have been even more distracted.