RESERVATION ROAD A HEART BREAKING JOURNEY One night, 2 fathers, 3 children... 1 fatality... what would you do?
How does one night change two families forever? Ethan and Grace Lerner (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) are a typically happy married couple. They have two beautiful children Josh and Emma (Sean Curner and Elle Fanning). {Critic's note: I'm sure glad we keep getting replacement Fanning children just as Dakota is now a teen. I hope they stay happy and keep on procreating!} They stop at a gas station (Critic's note: STOP going to the gas station after dark ie: Death Sentence). At the same time, Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) and his son are headed back from a baseball game. His family is not so happy. He lives to see his son Lucas (Eddie Alderson) per the custody arrangement. He is a doting father and is a bit of a hero in his child's eyes. The place their lives intersect is on RESERVATION ROAD. What comes next is the same event, told by each side in their own perspective. There are no "bad guys" or "good guys" there are humans who are grieving and in pain where the good and the bad line turns into gray. Performances were outstanding. Phoneix and Connelly show powerful gut-wrenching drama so well that it comes out from the TV and actually knocks the breath out of you. At first I thought Ruffalo was going to be a toss-away character, but alas, he really showed up for this role and did a supreme job. What threw me was Mira Sorvino, as Ruffalo's former wife. I didn't even recognise her until the end of the film. Her part isn't overly large, but that's something when you don't even know who a well known actor is. A story about the universal human condition. Well done.
PICK: Hands down, powerful performances, a lesson on grief, guilt and revenge.
