Had it received a release date in any other year, Rabbit Hole would have made my Top 10 Movie of the Year list. But as I’ve stated many times in my reviews, 2010 was, without question, the best year for movies in my lifetime. Rabbit Hole is a very well-acted, directed, heavy-hitting drama about the grieving process and the obstacles we must overcome to recover from the unexpected loss of a child. Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!, Cold Mountain) earned her third Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award Nomination (she won the award in 2003 for her role as Virginia Wolfe in The Hours) for her role as Becca, a grieving mother who struggles to comes to terms with her life after her four-year-old son is struck and killed by a car after running into the street while chasing the family dog.

The movie begins some eight months after the incident. We never meet four-year-old Danny and only see him in brief clips that his father, Howie (Aaron Eckhart – The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking), sneaks away to watch alone. At eight months, we are introduced to Becca and Howie after the shock of the incident has worn off. And while both know that their son is never coming back, they are still having trouble accepting this and moving forth with their lives, both as individuals and as a couple. We have no idea what their marriage was like before Danny’s death, but it can be assumed that they were very much in love and had few marital problems. Director John Cameron Mitchell (Shortbus, Hedwig and the Angry Itch) had to decide if he wanted to flashback to happier teams in the couple’s marriage or make his generalizations based on how they deal with the events in the aftermath of the death. I thought he made a good decision.

Kidman and Eckhart do a tremendous job of expressing the grief of their respective characters. The rising conflict within the movie is that Becca and Howie don’t always share in their suffering. They each grieve in very different ways. And while they can do their best to respect how each person comes to terms with the loss, they sometimes wonder to themselves and sometimes say aloud to one another phrases that, more or less, have the context of “How come you are not sad the same way I am sad?” They try group therapy, meeting other couples who are going through the same situation that they are. But group therapy is not for Becca. Howie’s sexual advances toward his wife are shut down. Becca’s “Howie, I’m not ready” replies are interpreted by Howie’s “As my wife no longer wants to be intimate with me.” While Howie wants to keep Danny’s room intact, pictures of him around the house up, and his scribbled drawings still up on the refrigerator, Becca not only wants to box up or get rid of all of these things but wants for the couple to move into a new home.

An event like this changes us forever. The question isn’t “Will we ever get our old lives back?” but rather “What do we need to do to move our lives forward?” We can try to convince ourselves that we will be able to deal with the death of an ailing parent/grandparent or ready ourselves when we know it is only a matter of time before we must put our pet down. However, the truth is that no matter how hard we try to prepare, we are still devastated by these events. Even when we have weeks, months, if not years to spend with these loved ones and say goodbye, the loss can still be unbearable. As terrible as any death of a loved one can be, I would assume that it is so much more devastating when the loss is unexpected. I, fortunately, have not had to go through a situation like that. When we hear in the news about the death of a child (any child for whatever reason), we cannot help but feel saddened by the situation. Picturing what it would feel like if that child was our son or daughter, niece or nephew, family friend, or just another kid in the neighborhood takes our mind to the most unpleasant places.

Rabbit Hole is very realistic. To do so, it needs to be very depressing. That it is. There are plenty of moments when we forget that we are watching a movie. The misery of Becca and Howie encompasses us go through daily. As much as they hurt, and it seems that they are trying to hurt each other with their words and actions, I don’t think we ever question their love. We like Becca and Howie as characters. Will they be able to make it through together? Though it seems inevitable that they will crumble at times, we are pulling for them.

Plot 9.5/10
Character Development 9.5/10
Character Chemistry 9.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing  9.5/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10 (while hopefully none of us will ever have to experience this to any degree, the truth of the matter is that none of us are immune to tragedy)
93.5%

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