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Review #552 of 365
Movie Review of Reservation Road (2007) [R] 102 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.50
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 24 October 2007
Time: 7:00 pm
8 April 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: Download now from 
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Directed by: Terry George (Hotel Rwanda)
Written by: John Burnham Schwartz (debut) • Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) based on novel by John Burnham Schwartz
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac) • Joaquin Phoenix (We Own the Night) • Jennifer Connelly (Blood Diamond) • Mira Sorvino (The Final Cut) • Elle Fanning (Déjà Vu) • Eddie Alderson ("One Life to Live") • Antoni Corone (We Own the Night) • Gary Kohn (The Calm at the Edge of the Sea) • Sean Curley ("The Backyardigans" )
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Click to see photos from the Premiere of Reservation Road
Click to read the spoiler points for Reservation Road
There is no possible way to imagine or even come close to comprehending the way one would feel if one were to be involved in the hitting and killing of a small child in a car accident, though director / co-writer Terry George will try to give some idea of the experience through the eyes of a man who commits this very crime, albeit accidentally, in his film adaptation of John Burnham Schwartz's novel, Reservation Road. The film opens with a cello performance by child prodigy, Josh Lerner (Sean Curley). After the recital, the Lerner family: Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix), Grace (Jennifer Connelly), Josh, and Emma (Elle Fanning) and a jar of fireflies will head home. Emma, being the youngest, will need to go to the bathroom along the way, forcing a pull-over at a local gas station just shy of home. And, it is here that the fates of two families will intertwine as attorney Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) will be driving home his weekends-only son, Lucas (Eddie Alderson) from a late Boston Red Sox game and in swerving to avoid another car, Dwight will run head on into Josh who left the car to free the fireflies as his mother suggested. His tiny body will be no match to the front end of the oncoming SUV. Unseatbelted, Lucas will hit his eye on the dashboard causing a nasty bruise, and Dad will try to convince himself that what he told his son about the accident was true, that he hit a log in the road.
"… slow but introspective film probably spends too much time in familiar territory…"
Maybe he believed it was a log, maybe he saw the little kid go down, either way, he sped off into the distance attempting to get Lucas home to his mother, Ruth Wheldon (Mira Sorvino), and waiting step father, Norris (Gary Kohn). When they arrive, Ruth is furious about them being late, and seeing Lucas's eye made matters worse. Whatever led to their divorce and Dwight's limited custody could only be fueled further by this mess. Meanwhile, as Dwight sped off, the ruckus alerted Ethan who then runs to find his little boy, dead, on the side of the road. His frail and lifeless body laying still in the dirt by the telephone pole. He orders Grace to put Emma in the car before she too runs over to hold the now quiet and limp little body in her arms. The police arrive in short order to collect information, but Ethan cannot remember much. Worse, they must keep the body as evidence in the crime scene. Sergeant Burke (Antoni Corone) assures them he will ensure the body is treated with respect throughout. As Dwight returns home, his mind and heart begin to spin out of control, as he learns later via the radio that he has just committed vehicular homicide. Operating in a fog and damage control mode, he hides his car with front-end damage in the garage and secures a rental for the time being. As the story progresses, his life will merge further with that of the Learners, leading to a largely predictable showdown.
The film explores both sides of the coin: the guilt of a man who has just committed a terrible crime, albeit an accident, and the simultaneous guilt of a father who wasn't able to protect his son and rage he has in avenging his death. The worst part is that this life-ruining experience could happen to any one at any time, no matter how careful we might perceive ourselves to be either as parents / guardians of children or as drivers. And, while both of these are worthy things to explore, and both Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix, respectively, deliver deep and meaningful performances, the story suffers from two very essential problems. First, other than the fact that Dwight does not want to lose visitation privileges with his son due to being in prison, it's not clear how or why he's able to ignore what he's done and avoid turning himself in. As much as his son may mean to him, he's just ended the life of someone else's. There's nothing about him cold enough to make him able to just walk away and nothing calculating enough to make him able to think he could really get away with this. Second, there are too many odd coincidences in how the lives of the Arno/Wheldons interlink with the Learners. It turns out that Ruth was Josh's music teacher. It turns out that the only lawyer in town who can help prosecute Josh's murderer in civil court is Dwight Arno. The fact that they all live in the same small town in Connecticut is enough of a coincidence without these other two. Unfortunately, these things not only detract from the believability of the story but make the fact that the police cannot find the perpetrator unfathomable. As much as the mothers are a part of the story, they are relegated to minor observers in this standoff.
"Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix…deliver deep and meaningful performances… "
Ethan grows more and more distant finding his only peace and solace in an online chat room for the parents of victims of hit and run drivers than from the arms of his own wife. Probably not ironically, the experience strengthens Dwight's relationship with Lucas as he, perhaps, finally realizes the incredible value of a son. The ending is probably too predictable for most people's taste, even down to the final moral decision that must be made. Given, though, that this was the third film of the fall 2007 film season along with Jodie Foster's
The Brave One and Kevin Bacon's
Death Sentence to center on the similar plot of a person dealing with the rage and grief induced by the outrageous and inexplicable death of loved one, the timing of the release of Reservation road probably couldn't have been worse in the way of attracting viewer interest. Still, as a vehicle for showcasing Joaquin Phoenix's talent on the tails of
We Own the Night, the film scores. It was Mark Ruffalo's tortured performance, however, that most people will remember longer and cause more people to think, "There, but for the Grace of God, go I." There is no way to know what one would do in a similar situation, except, as Dwight Arno suggests that we should own up to our mistakes. Finally, the slow but introspective film probably spends too much time in familiar territory and opts out of some more compelling avenues that might have occurred had there been more to understanding Dwight's past.
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Cast Members
Mark Ruffalo • Joaquin Phoenix • Jennifer Connelly
Mira Sorvino • Elle Fanning • Eddie Alderson
Antoni Corone • Gary Kohn • Sean Curley
Director
Terry George
Writers
John Burnham Schwartz • Terry George
Review-lite
Reservation Road (2007) [max of 150 words]
Reservation Road explores the aftermath and impact on the intertwining lives of two fathers: one, Dwight (Mark Ruffalo) who has just killed the son of the other, Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix), in a hit and run accident. Coincidence and rules the day as Ethan eventually hires Dwight to represent him in a civil suit should his son's killer be found. Unfortunately, while Ruffalo and Phoenix deliver fine performances in this predictable story, the film never really explains how Dwight is able to live with himself very well. Too much of his past is withheld leading to too much unnecessary speculation. In the end, even the ending is too predictable. Ah yes, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino are also in the film, sort of, don't blink. Director / co-writer Terry George's film also suffers in that it's the third similarly-themed film of the same fall season.
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