The rabbit hole metaphor is not lost on the viewer as we lay witness to Becca and Howie Corbett’s “venture into the unknown” in our latest independent film experience.
The story begins two years after the couple has lost their young son in a tragic accident. As they drift through days grasping at normalcy, it becomes evident that neither one is moving on and as the world rushes by around them; they stay fixed in their grief.
Most striking to us was the complexities and depths that writer David Lindsay-Abaire was able to develop in each character. Nicole Kidman’s performance as wife Becca is possibly her most convincing yet. She knows she must find a way out of the grief but her husband Howie’s (Aaron Eckhart) strategy isn’t working for her. He opts for the textbook fix and joins a support group. He tries to remove all pictures and toys that remind him of his son. Becca struggles to keep his memory alive by creating a shrine out of his bedroom and visiting it daily; sometimes even sleeping there.
That two people deal with grief very differently is not surprising. What is surprising and heat warming is the way two people dealing with their grief differently can co exist in a marriage and move on independently but stay together and keep their marriage alive. The external forces that are at work make it understandable how grief can tear people apart.
Director John Cameron Mitchell shows us their journey through grief to the other side, with every rest stop on the way being one you will never forget.
Relative newcomer Miles Teller gives us a fabulous performance. Look for him in the upcoming remake of Footloose.
Captivating, touching and beautiful. A Rave Review rated this movie 4 out of 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment