Dir. John Cameron Mitchell , USA , 2010, 91 mins
Cast: Nicole Kidman , Aaron Eckhart , Sandra Oh, Dianne Wiest
Review by Maria Sell
Rabbit Hole is one of this year’s Oscar contenders with Nicole Kidman (deservedly) nominated in the best actress category. It tells the story of a couple who try to overcome their grief and move on after losing their young son, who was run over by the car of a neighbouring teenager. The film is based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s Broadway success from 2006, and adapting it for the screen was never an easy task (one that Abaire took on himself).
Picking up eight months after the fatal accident, both Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie Corbett (Aaron Eckhart) feel they would like to move on in life (as much as this is possible). However, understandably this doesn’t prove easy and they struggle, each in their own way, as well as being unable to agree on how to open the next chapter in their lives or even what that next chapter should be. Both desperately attempt to cling on to some normality, some routine. Howie goes to work, and meets his friend for squash regularly, while Becca busies herself around the house. Nevertheless, their external suffering differs greatly. Becca avoids mentioning their son. She removes all evidence of his existence from the house and even considers moving to make a break from their former, happier life. To the contrary Howie clings on to his memories, re-watching a video clip of his son on his phone over and over again, as well as visiting weekly group counselling sessions, which Becca refuses to attend.
It is when Becca starts meeting up with Teller, the high-school student who was driving the car that killed her son, that some of her grief held inside forces it’s way to the surface. Meanwhile Howie, feeling deserted and misunderstood by Becca, grows closer to another parent from the therapy group, Gaby (Sandra Oh).
Both Eckhart and Kidman deliver strong and convincing individual performances as grieving parents who are struggling to continue their life. Yet this bleak film lacks chemistry between the good-looking pair and instead they seem oddly disconnected. Their conversations are superficial as they appear to drift further and further apart. As a viewer it’s hard to imagine that a close bond ever existed between these two. It is Oh’s and Eckhart’s shared screen time that provides more chemistry and most of the (few) succinct comical lines, while Dianne Wiest is a valuable asset to the film as Becca’s mother, who understands only too well the feelings of a grieving parent.
While the subject matter of Rabbit Hole certainly doesn’t make for a fun ride, it is laced with some humorous scenes and leaves the audience upbeat with a hopeful (happy) ending. And despite its flaws, this is a film worth venturing out into the cold to watch in the cinema.
