RABBIT HOLE Discussion

Watched it this morning. For me, this was a film wherein the parts are greater than the sum. It just didn't quite cohere for me the way I wanted it to. Performances all around were excellent; it all felt real, sometimes painfully so. Dialogue, expressions and character choices - excepting one, which I'll get to below - all felt organic and genuine. I liked how we saw the dysfunction in Becca's family without it being expositioned to death, and I also liked how the film effortlessly showed that Becca's grief was exacerbating and exposing the cracks already there, not creating them.

Eckhart's performance, for the most part, was one of those quiet, solid ones Christian Bale referenced in his Golden Globes acceptance speech. I agree that the film refused to pigeonhole either spouse as the bad guy, but it was really tough for me to continually muster empathy for Becca while having no trouble doing so for Howie. He did so much with facial expressions and body language in the film; you could see the effort he made to support his wife while yearning for more. Kidman's performance was excellent. She inhabited Becca, and despite being an actress who's also a movie star, it was easy to buy her as the grieving mother. I will say, however, that the opening shots were very distracting, as the work done on her face was screamingly obvious, and as someone who's been watching her in films for 20 years, it's just sad and annoying.

I found the Jason storyline straining and sometimes breaking credulity, especially with Becca having an actual relationship (talking, spending time with) with him. I would've bought it more easily if the film had 1) kept it more of a stalking relationship and 2) he was simply a handy object for her grief and denial, spotted by chance at the traffic light. I don't know if it's as bad as "first year film student," but it definitely felt forced and too on-the-nose.

The film's brevity and lack of platitudes works very much for it, though I almost wished it was a little longer with a corrected plot (the Jason thing). And for a film about grief, it also managed to not be ridiculously weepy or oppressively somber. The few laughs or lighter moments were great.

I also loved the cinematography. The credits say it was adapted from a play, but Mitchell & Co. did a wonderful job opening the visuals and giving a good sense of that world. The lighting for the night scenes in Becca and Howie's house was magic, and I loved how it helped contrast the warmth and comfort of the home with the chill, stark distance between the husband and wife.

Mmm, agreed. Great post.

I think this was the first time I ever warmed up to Eckhart, even though he totally had the Action Movie Physique. I guess he did this somewhere during "The Dark Knight" and "Battle: Los Angeles," and it's the sort of thing you can't ignore, when good looking male actors who do lots of action movies suddenly play Average Joes, and you have to be like, wait, when does he have the time to hit the gym so often? See: Ryan Reynolds in "Amityville Horror," Will Smith in "Seven Pounds," etc.