Review of Reservation Road (2007) by U Wish U Knew...... M — 06 Jun 2008

Upon picking this film up for rental, I scratched my head. Directed byTerry George, who helmed the terrific film Hotel Rwanda; this film has Joaquin Phoenix, Mira Sorvino, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Connelly in it.Yet I have never heard of this picture from last year. To no surprise, the acting was solid, especially Jennifer Connelly, and author John Burnham Schwartz is good adapting his own novel.

The film is deep, as it has an unusual but interesting balance of a grieving family whose son is killed by a hit and run driver, who by grim coincidence may just live in the same neighborhood. The subplot follows the emotional pathos of the driver- who wrestles with the idea of turning himself in and losing his own son in the process after winning visitation rights after a nasty divorce.

There are no easy answers in the film, and while I could say I found the confrontation between the two lead characters to be a bit much, even I had to admit that, given the idea that a man has lost his son and to see the driver spending time with his own son at a baseball game might just be enough to set a ticking human time bomb off.

As to why this film went under my radar I'm still trying to fathom. But then again, I noticed with dramas that deal with human grief, adult problems and thoughtful discussions, if they don't have an atomic bomb exploding off in the distance or highlights of a torture scene, nobody will seem to notice.

Quite like a tragic outcome of a hit and run accident.