AFF Preview: Reservation Road

Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) can't seem to catch a break. After losing his wife Ruth (Mira Sorvino) to divorce, and veritably losing his son Lucas (Eddie Alderson) to restrictive court-ordered visitation rights, he lives his life in piecemeal fashion, simply enjoying the crumbs of goodness when they fall off the table of normalcy. Rushing to drop Lucas off at his mother's house after a Red Sox game runs late, Dwight is incessantly reminded of yet another failure on his part by Ruth's check-in phone calls, one of which he is about to answer when he swerves to avoid crashing into an oncoming car, instead hitting another object on the shoulder of the road. He pauses for a moment and then continues on his way, aware of his options, but terrified by the consequences.

One of Ethan's university students professes, 'Most Americans are insulated from death," a sentiment that explains why these men do what they do. Ethan is so busy fueling his hate and anger and rage that he is distracted from the actual missing &mdash missing his son, missing his old family, missing the life he once led. And Dwight, who consumed with guilt and self-loathing for his cowardice, must distance himself from the possibility of this ever happening to his son and the feelings he would have if it did.

Reservation Road plays a bit like a family tragedy choose-your-own-adventure story where at the end of every chapter Ethan and Dwight pick the the most drastic and detrimental path. The audience knows what is going to happen, at least partially, within the first twenty minutes: the police will do nothing, Ethan will have to strike out on his own to avenge the wrongful death of his son, Dwight will be tortured by his fear and weakness, and there will be a ton of wailing and gnashing of teeth. However, what lacks in the suspense department for this film is made up in spades by the calculated and wrenching performances of Ruffalo and Phoenix. These two men are so tortured by circumstance that we actually felt every labored breath and twinge of agony. It is their performances that make this a worthwhile venture.

Also, we are convinced that Connelly has some sort of super power that could squeeze tears from a rock if necessary, and her sometimes melodramatic portrayal of a mother in mourning still rings true enough to affect a visceral reaction. She is a wounded bird who almost refuses to be healed. And has anyone ever looked so beautiful while crying? We think not.

The kiddos turn in admirable performances, innocent and lovely in their asking of the most challenging, yet simple questions. We wish that Sorvino's character had more meat because we lurve her, but she really only plays a small role in a string of almost unbelievable coincidences that lead Phoenix to his fateful revelation that the person who is supposed to be helping him find his son's killer is, in fact, his enemy.

All in all, the sadness we felt for Ethan, Grace and Emma's loss faded about half way through the proceedings and then all we could feel was dread, knowing that no matter what this would not end well. It so painful to watch these two men tear their lives apart and as the credits rolled we felt a bit empty, with the only remaining question being "So now what?" I guess at that point George and his greek tragedy chorus hands off the choose-your-own-adventure book to the audience, forcing us to explore both sides of the story from our own unique perspectives.