Review: Rabbit Hole

In Rabbit Hole, director John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) captures a period of time in the life of a married couple in suburban New York, months after their young son has died. Given this set-up, you might expect the film to be maudlin and depressing. Miraculously, even as the film deals seriously with some unhappy issues, it is able to do so without pulling the audience through the emotional wringer. 

Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie Corbett's (Aaron Eckhart) son Danny was hit by a car in front of their house. To help cope with his death, they attend support group meetings -- where they meet Gaby (Sandra Oh) and her husband -- but neither seem to benefit from them.  

Becca has a rather fraught relationship with her younger sister Izzy (Tammy Blanchard, The Good Shepherd), and is annoyed that her mom Nat (a magnificent Dianne Wiest) keeps comparing Becca's current situation to her own. She begins a sort of friendship with Jason (Miles Teller), the high-school student and aspiring comic-book artist involved in the accident that killed her son.  

Howie is irked by Becca's dismissiveness and feels cut off from her emotionally (and sexually), and he comes to look for support elsewhere. The cold character of Becca almost seems like something Kidman has played before (but she's now a Golden Globe nominee for this role). In contrast, Eckhart plays Howie as someone very open with his emotions -- and yet he comes off as more grounded than his wife.  

Throughout Rabbit Hole, the Corbetts try to decide whether or not they should sell their house since it holds many reminders of their loss. Howie watches video of Danny on his phone at night to remember his son, and Becca is bothered by this. As Becca makes attempts to move on, Howie wants to keep hold of any connection to their son.  

Rabbit Hole is based on David Lindsay-Abaire's award-winning play (he also wrote the screenplay). The language and wit of the screenplay give an intimate quality to the film in which we watch these characters evolve.  An unusual aspect of the film is the comic-book art that pops up onscreen; teenage Jason's comic book about multiple parallel universes adds another fascinating layer to the story.

This movie is a drama that's funnier than you expect, or a comedy that's almost bleak at times. Unlike other films with comparable storylines that leave one feeling emotionally spent in the end, I left Rabbit Hole feeling satisfied and hopeful.