Reservation Road
Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 104 June 2008
(1 votes, average: 8 out of 10)
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Hit and run horrors.
The Lowdown: Based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by John Burnham Schwartz, this emotional drama explores the devastating impact on two families after lawyer Dwight runs over and kills college professor Ethan’s young son Josh, and carries on driving. This tragedy underpins the subsequent actions of the two men…
Review: With an impeccable A-list cast and a laudable literary background, Reservation Road could have quite easily been a film to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, Hotel Rwanda director Terry George strains so hard to be worthy that you end up fearing for his health. Downbeat dramas with worthy intentions are all too common these days, but despite its enviable cast, Reservation Road never really convinces us of its higher purpose.
Infuriatingly, it seems to be constantly labouring over every single point, which quickly grows wearying. As the film begins, a bearded, intellectual Joaquin Phoenix watches his sensitive, 10-year-old son Josh play the cello and catch fireflies. Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo’s everyman Dad is at the Boston Red Sox game with his sports-loving son, cheering their team on as they progress towards World Series glory. These dividing lines have been drawn in such a crude, painfully obvious fashion that you fear for the rest of the movie. Such fears are well founded, and although Phoenix and Ruffalo toil away manfully, the plot develops in a bleak, plodding fashion before limping to its inevitably worthy conclusion. By the time this ‘redemptive’ ending eventually rolls around you will almost certainly feel depressed and slightly disillusioned by the dour spectacle that you’ve just witnessed. Apart from some A-list brooding courtesy of Phoenix and Ruffalo, Reservation Road offers nothing that a Hallmark Channel TV movie can’t provide.
In short, don’t be fooled by the appealing cast, Reservation Road is a breathtakingly dull movie with very little to recommend it. Special features are limited to deleted scenes and an uninspired featurette.
FILM: 4 EXTRAS: 4
DVD Info:
US Certificate: R
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Connelly, Mark Ruffalo, Mira Sorvino
Directed By: Terry George, 2007
Distributor: Focus Features
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Visuals: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 103mins
Price: £17.99
Special Features:
Scene Selection
Deleted Scenes
‘Looking Back On Reservation Road’ Featurette
