Adapted from John Burnham Schwartz's novel of the same name,
Reservation Road is a drama/thriller about two Connecticut families whose lives intersect over tragedy. Ethan Lerner (
Joaquin Phoenix) and his wife Grace (
Jennifer Connelly) are driving their kids home from their son's cello recital when he is struck and killed by a car on Reservation Road. The driver, Dwight Arno (
Mark Ruffalo) is racked with racked with guilt as he tries to hide what he did under increasingly difficult circumstances. This year's
Little Children (i.e., intrigue in the suburbs Oscar-time release),
Reservation Road was a little too heavy-handed for its own good. The actors, especially Phoenix and Ruffalo, try as hard as they can to maneuver around some clunky dialogue. But the movie ultimately devolves into a
Crime and Punishment-esque moral exercise, with heavy-handed social commentaries (intellectual vs. physical, white collar vs. blue collar) and a rough ending that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
ReelzChannel Rating: 