Review of Rabbit Hole (2010) by Augustine H — 14 Oct 2012

OK, this is a movie about a couple dealing with the loss of their young child. That description is often a teaser to a story that has something more unexpected - a fantastic turn that makes the situation prickly. I'm thinking for example of Almodovar's "Talk To Her" which begins as a story about a woman in a coma and her caregiver, but goes into amazing diversions that rise way above the situation as presented.

But no. This is a movie about a couple dealing with the loss of their young child. The story never takes off. We're left with portraiture. There are scenes in the help group. Recriminations over who is dealing with this in the less-healthy manner. There begins to be an interesting path taken as Becca, the boy's mother played by Nicole Kidman, seeks out and befriends the teenager who was behind the wheel when her son was run over. But nothing like a new story direction really develops.

The original stage play won the Pulitzer Prize and I'd really like to know what got lost in translation.