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4 ½ Stars: Should GRIEF And Mourning For The Loss of A Child Be An Everlasting Burden?
-
Dec 27, 2010
- by woopak_the_thrill
- posted in Movie Hype
Rating:
A parents’ worst fear is when they outlive their children, worst even is when the child is taken at a very young age. I would imagine that such a tragedy would be almost unbearable. The play by David Lindsay-Abaire took on this premise and he adapts his tale to the big screen with director John Cameron Mitchell's help in 2010‘s “Rabbit Hole“. The Nicole Kidman produced film premiered in the Toronto film festival and has received a standing ovation. The film is a remarkable story that defines grief; how we as humans tend to cope with it, how it sometimes coincides with guilt and how we try to live with it. “Rabbit Hole” is a powerful film about a messy, tragic emotional reaction to the loss of a child.
+4
Becca (Nicole Kidman, To Die For) and Howie (Aaron Eckart, The Dark Knight) is a young married couple reeling from a tragic misfortune and is learning to live life without their son. The two try different ways to deal with their grief, Howie tries group therapy with the sponsorship of a woman named Gabby (Sandra Oh) while Becca tries to keep her emotions bottled up and becomes rather antagonistic towards her family and friends that include her mother Nat (beautifully acted by Dianne Wiest) and her now pregnant sister (Tammy Blanchard). With their marriage crumbling, the two try to find different ways to cope with the guilt and the grief that they feel, while the young man somewhat responsible for the couple’s misfortune, Jason (Miles Teller) finds an escape from his shame and remorse by writing an elaborate comic book about parallel universes and family relationships.
Grief. Each one of us have known this emotion at one time or another. Each one of us learn to live with it, while carrying its burden forevermore. “Rabbit Hole” defines grief and creates a compelling story about human reaction to an ungodly tragedy. The film goes into the depths of an emotional aftermath and how the eventual road to recovery may sometimes come from things unexpected; it may be about forgiveness or by remembrance, it may be channeling guilt through another emotion, but nonetheless “Rabbit Hole” is all about human reaction.
Director John Cameron Mitchell restrains his instincts to provoke, but rather he seems satisfied to analyze and define in this film. The last film I saw directed by him was the disheartening above-average arthouse drama about sexuality “Short Bus” and this time around, the director takes on a more human theme. It was fortunate that the film was scripted by the Abaire who had also written the source material; the film has a very sad premise and yet, it wasn’t over-wrought. The film retains a sense of restraint and should I say “refinement” as it goes into its emotions. The temptation to become melodramatic would be great, but the direction keeps the proceedings grounded and quite realistic. It keeps its head high amid the melodrama with a delicate balance, as the emotions are given definition by its characters through their many layers and personalities; what results is a narrative that is filled with affecting influence that exposes the overpowering tiers of grief and guilt.
The writing and the dialogue is pretty well-done. They are simple and yet they define the complexities of each character. The most multifaceted and compelling of all is Becca and is marvelously played by Kidman. She is a strong woman who had a great career and has taken on the role of a housewife. Becca is the type who questions and asks why things are the way they are. She deals with her grief in her own way, almost as if she allows her emotions to take hold, things may fall apart. She keeps things at a distance and her reaction may be more about frustrations and anger than actually remembering. Kidman is just mesmeric as Becca, she says so much even without dialogue, she is fantastic as she expresses vexation and denial. Howie is the type who’d like to move on and hold on to memories. It was so touching to see Howie watch his son’s videos and at the same time, he considers having another child. It is moving on and never forgetting, and this brings about more emotions from Becca who begins to think that the world has moved on without her and she meets this with disgust and perhaps a feeling of betrayal.
It was also nice that the film retained a semblance of humor amid all its depressing themes. These are helped along by the supporting cast led by Dianne Wiest. She is just phenomenal as the mother who tries to ease her daughter’s grief as she tries to relate to how she felt. Their exchanges were both heart-wrenching as well darkly humorous as Becca stands turned off by her comparisons of her son and her brother who died at 30 due to drug overdose. Sandra Oh plays a woman who also has issues dealing with grief and this led to her separation. The scenes with her and Howie doing marijuana was just well played into its plot. There was a moment that I thought things were going to become cliché in regards to their relationship but I was quite taken as to how it became a test of integrity that wins over the trappings/lure of loneliness and confusion.
“Rabbit Hole” is a pretty grim film and I would be lying if I said it was a pessimistic cinematic experience. The direction by Mitchell and the writing by Lindsay-Abaire goes above its call to preserve its humanity while bringing forth a rather moving piece about dealing with grief and guilt. It sidesteps the conventions of a tear-jerker and instead goes forth with sublime human responses and scientific probabilities as Becca and Jaso discuss the possibility of another universe where everything is just “honkey-dorey“. The two dream of a perfect world without anguish and hostilities.
The film is just a fantastic display of balance and allows the characters to drive the story and emotions rather than the other way around. It is hauntingly impressive in a way it avoids the cliché of melodrama and comes forth with an engaging film with an artistic manner that rounds up its heartbreaking premise. “Rabbit Hole” just feels very real as we are left to question if there is hope for happiness after a tragedy or is grief something everlasting?
Highly Recommended! [4 ½ Out of 5 Stars]
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It’s a movie about how different people deal differently with choices and distresses in life. A couple losing a child (4 year old in a car accident outside their very own house) has problems getting on in life as a couple as their tried to “forget” their child’s memories. It was unbearable for them as individuals. The real problem with this movie is that it is not highly engaging for the audience. The … more
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Say what you will about EWTN and the late Mother Angelica, but one of the most poignant and moving episodes of 'Mother Angelica Live' was when a male guest came to talk about his faith and the grieving process he underwent after losing his young son John Paul. At one point the articulate guest said that he had trouble letting go of his grief because it was the one tangible thing he had left of John Paul. In other words, letting go grief--as indescribable and uncontrollable as it may be--may … more
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RABBIT HOLE Written by David Lindsay-Abaire Directed by John Cameron Mitchell Starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Weist and Sandra Oh Becca: I like that. Somewhere out there, I’m happy. There are times in our lives where we all find ourselves falling down a hole we didn’t see coming. We are just merrily making our way through the world we know when suddenly, and when we’re … more
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Grief is an individual process. There is no one way to experience it. It’s not a scheduled allotment of time; it could begin directly after a tragedy, but then again, it could begin five years later, or ten, and it’s going to last for as long as it’s going to last. Some people have the coping skills to move on. Others remain in despair for the rest of their lives. Is the former the right way to go about it? I don’t know. Coping skills could refer to anything. If one person … more
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“Rabbit Hole” is a film about a couple who have recently lost a child in a tragic accident and are trying to figure out how to go on living. I’m not sure who the target audience is for this film. If you’ve just lost a child, I can’t imagine wanting to watch someone else go through what you’ve been through. And if you haven’t, well, what’s the appeal of watching people suffer quietly for two hours? Who picks this up at the video … more
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A subject like this requires attention and scrupulousness and it definitely had plenty of both. Based on the book "Rabbit Hole" written by David-Lindsay Abaire, the movie is riveting as far as execution and concept. It's very well organized, it's narrative structure is impressive and it definitely catches you emotionally. The story is about a family, husband (Aaron Eckhart) and wife (Nicole Kidman), that have to deal with the emotional consequences of … more
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When someone loses a loved one there is always someone who asks you if you are alright or how you are doing and to try and be kind to be hospitable to that person you tell a bold face lie that you are doing fine and dealing with the lose well. That is a lie, everything you say when a loved one dies is a lie your doing alright, your coping well, your dealing with the grief fine is all a lies in truth no one deals with grief well but we do deal with it in our own ways. … more
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review by virharding.
January 31, 2011
At first glance, Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) appear to be the perfect suburban couple, but something doesn't seem quite right. That "something", it turns out, is that their four-year-old son Danny was killed in an accident eight months earlier. The details of Danny's death emerge slowly over the course of the film. The couple is still trying to cope, each in their own way. Howie takes the train to the city to work each morning and has … more
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There is no argument with me on what is the best film of the year. It is easily, without a doubt John Cameron Mitchell and David Lindsey Aubry's heartbreaking drama "Rabbit Hole" a tale about a young couple going through the stages of grief after the tragic loss of their four-year-old son Danny after he was inadvertently mowed down by a young teenager. "Rabbit Hole" is perhaps one of the most heartbreaking films ever made about loss and suffering that you experience after … more
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About this movie
Rabbit Hole is a 2010 drama film starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. David Lindsay-Abaire adapted his 2005 play of the same name, and John Cameron Mitchell directed. Kidman produced the project via her production company, Blossom Films. The film premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival in September. Lionsgate will distribute the film.
It will receive a limited US theatrical release on 17 December 2010 and expand nationwide on 14 January 2011.
Director:
John Cameron Mitchell
Genre:
Drama
Release Date:
27 October 2010 (France)
Screen Writer:
David Lindsay-Abaire
Studio:
Olympus Pictures,
Blossom Films,
Odd Lot Entertainment
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My mom was the same way, she loved heavy familial dramas. I'd like to know what are your favorites...
In the case of The Greatest, the child is almost an adult and the family was on the verge of splitting up. The girl who was pregnant was introduced into their lives unexpectedly and partly also because she was "instrumental" in the crash. It deals with not only grief but acceptance of someone deemed to be seen as having gotten their son killed to begin with. It's very interesting! You must watch it!