A small but significant film, based on the very larger-than-life Pulitzer and Tony award winning play of the same name, Rabbit Hole examines the unthinkable loss of a child from various perspectives. Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) are grief-stricken parents whose marriage is falling apart as each deals with their emotions eight months after their son’s accidental death. Far from cliche, the two cope with a range of feelings, couples’ therapy and the temptations to move on from the death, or in some incidences move out (from each other.) Diane Wiest portrays Becca’s mother with her own set of secrets and her own sense of humor, while Sandra Oh portrays another parent surviving her child’s death. The film raises issues and justifies pains – from suicide to accident to illness, as the players come to terms with how this could happen to them. What kind of a God does this? And why? Outside forces play into the daily mechanics of taking one day at a time, with simple examples like taking the baby seat out of the back of the car. There’s also a chilling and memorable scene when Kidman reaches out to the teenage boy (Miles Teller) responsible for the accident. Kidman is a risk taker with roles that stretch her limits. Here she tests them superbly and is undoubtedly Oscar bound, while Eckhart is always a bit of an edgy actor in control. That said, this time he exhibits a softer and vulnerable side. In many ways the film feels like another movie Deep End of the Ocean. In the end and in their pain, we as an audience come to realize that death is final. There are no options. It never goes away and there’s nothing that can be done to bring them back. Death is the only thing in life you can’t change, but it can certainly change you. And for these characters, it’s changed them forever. Three and a half tiaras
