DIRECTED BY John Cameron Mitchell
STARRING Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart
While initially Rabbit Hole might appear to be this year’s standard grieving-suburban-whites awards-magnet, it’s a very subtle study of a marriage under extreme strain.
Adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire from his Pulitzer-winning play and directed with surprising restraint from the man behind Hedwig And The Angry Inch and Shortbus, it’s what Raymond Carver fans would call dirty realism.
The Corbetts lost their child to a car crash months ago. They’re flailing emotionally. Howie (Aaron Eckhart) is willing to try new things, Becca (Kidman) doesn’t see the point.
There’s a great joke when Howie tries to seduce Becca with Al Green, which tells you this won’t be an orgy of misery. “But what if there is a God?” asks Becca’s mother (Dianne Wiest). “Then he’s a sadistic prick,” says Becca. Howie smokes pot with Sandra Oh. Becca becomes obsessed with the teenager who was driving the car.
Twee piano music is the sole misstep.
CHRIS ROBERTS