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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

As I’ve harped on before, a film should be designed to hook the viewer’s attention from the first scene. Think Get Low as a great example of how it’s done. Rabbit Hole fails to achieve that, because as pleasing as Nicole Kidman may be to look at, watching her mix dirt, plant flowers, and water them during the opening minutes isn’t anything that screams, “Watch this movie!” However, patience proves to be a virtue as Kidman goes on to provide a wonderful performance in what is an emotionally dark and pervasively sad drama.

Initially, we don’t know why there is trouble within the marriage of Becca (Kidman) and Howie Corbett (Aaron Eckhart), a relatively young couple who seem to enjoy a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle. As time passes, we learn their one and only child, a four-year-old boy, was killed eight months earlier when he dashed in front of an oncoming vehicle.

The strain on their marriage is summed up by Becca when she says, “Things aren’t nice anymore.” She grows tired of attending a support group and hearing about how it was God’s will that her son died. Becca then starts a process of removing physical traces of their son from the house, which only serves to drive a wedge between her and her husband, as Howie is desperate to hang onto every last material vestige of his son.

The Corbett’s situation is complicated by Becca’s still-rebellious sister, Izzy (Tammy Blanchard, The Good Shepherd, Life with Judy Garland), who’s suddenly become pregnant, and by Becca’s mother, Nat (Dianne Wiest), who keeps lumping her grandson’s tragic fate with her own son’s death via a heroin overdose.

A lack of intimacy takes its toll on their marriage as does a succession of secrets. Howie starts to grow close to a grieving mother from the support group (Sandra Oh, Sideways, TV’s Grey’s Anatomy) and Becca initiates a relationship with the teenage boy (Miles Teller) who accidentally killed her son.

Although there are occasional moments of levity, a deep sense of pain and loss permeates Rabbit Hole. With his third major feature film effort, director John Cameron Mitchell (Shortbus, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) has crafted a cinematic experience that should leave any viewer a little more appreciative of their loved ones, especially their children, no matter the ages.

Kidman, whose role was nominated for a Golden Globe and Oscar, delivers one of the best performances of her entire career. Behind her blank stares and strained smiles you can feel a deep sense of loss and a soul so pained that you can tell it will be forever damaged. Kidman brilliantly succeeds where so many “big-name” actors and actresses fail to do: she makes you forget who she is by immersing herself completely in the character.

Eckhart delivers a solid performance, yet it’s nothing that rises above what he did in, say, The Dark Knight. Oh is bland, dullish, and one-dimensional, a far cry from her effort in Sideways. The real supporting gem can be found in Teller’s supporting role. A relative newcomer (his résumé basically consists of a couple of shorts and a TV guest spot), Teller is surprisingly strong, as he breathes life into a teenage boy whose soul wrestles daily with what he has done, even though it was an accident.

The mood is bleak and the pacing is slow, but Rabbit Hole is well worth the effort to see.

On a letter grade scale from “A” being excellent to “F” for failing, Rabbit Hole receives a B.

Rabbit Hole is rated PG-13 and has a running time of 91 minutes.

Now showing through January 27 @
Glenwood Arts
9575 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-4404 for more information.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.