Reservation Road: Upsetting
Posted by blk1 on May 17, 2008
Last night we stayed in with a trio of DVD’s from Blockbuster and began and ended the evening with just one, Reservation Road.
I remembered that it came and went from the theaters very quickly and I wondered why, as I grabbed it down from the shelf. Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly and a bit of Mia Sorvino. I know the entire group from many other movie roles. The novel, written by John Burnham Schwartz, is also well known, although I haven’t read him yet.
So we took a leap of faith and began. In the first 15 minutes the movie’s conflict was out there: a young boy is killed at a roadside stop when his sister needs to use a bathroom and the family makes the best of it. The son, fresh from his cello recital, takes his mom seriously as he gets out of the car to free the fireflies his sister captured in a pickle jar. Mark Ruffalo, a lawyer and divorced father, is returning home from baseball game with his son and to avoid an oncoming car, swerves and accidentally, kills the boy and instead of stopping, cowardly speeds away, a hit and run.
The rest of the movie attempts to resolve this moment and it was just too much for me as we watched the fathers suffer. I was never taken beyond this unfortunate death and maybe I should have been. Jennifer Connelly, the mother, was able to gradually move beyond and maybe it should have been her story. I don’t know, but I found no satisfying resolution.
This morning, just before I started writing, I checked with Rotten Tomatoes, my online movie review site and the reviewers gave this a 36%. Overall the vast majority of reviewers felt it was too predictable, too cliche. I don’t know if that’s what was missing for me. I honestly don’t know, but I should have been able to move on a bit more to some deeper issues. Yes, they did offer a story around this event, but I don’t know what was missing.
Tuvia liked it very much. He was satisfied and he’s tough.
I have more to think about, but tonight we have Bella, for the second time and 27 Dresses for fun!
May 17th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Wow – what a stretch. Reservation Road and 27 Dresses. I can certainly see why you couldn’t or wouldn’t want to watch a second movie after Reservation Road. A movie like that one leaves a shadow on you that’s hard to shake. Call me shallow, but anymore I’d rather watch something like 27 dresses. I can walk away from a movie like that without aching. Take care.
Lynn
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May 17th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Lynn,
You raise a great point. I don’t mind the ache as long as there’s a payoff and I didn’t get one in RR. It’s not lingering with me in an interesting way, unlike Fugitive Pieces. Now that one is worth the sadness of a young boy watching his parents murdered but somehow dealing with his life and coming to resolution.
Thanks for leaving your stamp here once again. I’m enjoying your comments. Keep em’ coming.
PS.I am hoping to have something to share from our time together soon. There’s been a wrinkle with my computer. Apple was unable to fix the problem and they are replacing that computer but they did make sure to backup my work first. Love my Apple guys.
Bonnie
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May 17th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Bella was my dog’s name.
Kevin
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May 17th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I remember that and this movie has nothing to do with dogs, but it is quite romantic. A great movie for you and your honey when your kids are off to be.
Bonnie
How did it go today?
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May 18th, 2008 at 6:18 am
The conference was great … I am writing a quick reflection for my blog.
Kevin
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May 18th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Can’t wait to hear more as I patiently wait for the new Flickr uploader to move my photos to the web. What’s up with this new version. It is very slow. I wonder, does it have to be? Maybe I should move backward to the older version.
BK
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