| Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek (at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival) Director: Terry George|
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino, Elle Fanning
Studio: Focus Features, Random House Films Reservation Road is an emotional masterpiece and Joaquin Phoenix its fear-filled leader. While Road echoes with all the best elements of In the Bedroom, The Deep End and We Don't Live Here Anymore, its all-star cast opens the film up to much wider theatrical potential. Terry George, who also helmed the tear-jerker Hotel Rwanda, is no surprise - both films resist relying on just the soul of their powerful stories to stir their audiences. Set amidst the East Coast perfection of Connecticut (not unlike Ang Lee's similarly foreboding The Ice Storm), George has his hands firmly on the reins, keeping the movie moving and not allowing us the rest or respite to which other films in this setting often succumb. And, while Rwanda focused its lens on the seemingly guiltless slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocents in Africa's tribal wars, Reservation Road touches us perhaps as deeply with the devastation wrought by one death: the loss of the Learner family's ten-year-old son, Josh. That Josh was nobly releasing fireflies he'd caught earlier in the evening when he is struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident could be symptomatic of world affairs, and such considerations are given credence with political discussions held cursorily in Ethan Learner's college classroom. Merely bearing witness to the honest and compelling actions and reactions of these caring parents (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) is gut-wrenching in its honesty, and seems to defy cinematic convention in its pure portrayal of grief and confusion. Joaquin Phoenix as Ethan Learner and Mark Ruffalo as the hit-and-run driver, Dwight Arno, inhabit their roles as fathers with distinct differences, and the accident acts as a catalyst to force both to face the demons delivered with parental duties. Their performances are exacted with award-worthy attention, perhaps unsurprisingly, as Terry George was responsible for the screenplay of arguably the finest exploration of both paternal and fraternal relationships in 1993's In the Name of the Father. Ruffalo's Dwight Arno, a barely okay attorney and divorcé dad whose relationship with his son centers on the Boston Red Sox and take-out, travels along all shades of grey as his character careens from competent to cowardly, and crashes unavoidably into direct conflict with the mourning father whose son's life Arno stole. Phoenix's Learner is poignant and perfect - as true to his character and the inner conflicts he shares, shelves or sheds as any actor who has come before him. If eyes are windows to the soul, Phoenix's self seems never shuttered. Connelly's performance in support is magnetic, punctuated by her pangs of guilt for each word said leading up to her son's death. And Elle Fanning, especially, as Emma Learner and Eddie Alderson as Ruffalo's own son are two of a breed - young actors with the innate ability for reality. However the Fanning family has fostered this maturity in their children remains a mystery, but where other films falter by relying on cute over-character, Reservation Road holds nothing back. That I could have remained on its ride for quite a while longer, watching these lives unfold, is never in doubt, but George is wise in keeping the film trimmed to a time that won't deter a crowd. Reservation Road is a hauntingly beautiful journey well worth the price of emotion. |
