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*** May contain spoilers ***
Responsibility, Guilt, and Pain
crockery from from Belfast,
29th June, 2008
Coming up with new and original ideas is getting harder and harder, and 'Reservation Road' works so well because the incidents that are at its core don't strain our belief that they could certainly happen to anyone in the audience. We relate to the story because its emotional core appeals to our basic sensibilities: love and hate; the two forces that keep this world going. Terry George's movie has some excellent elements, and they are certainly memorable when the performances are this good. Both Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix continue growing as performers, and both of them explore the various dimensions of his characters, letting us experience the intensity of the different types of pain their respective characters endure. Through Ruffalo we witness the torment brought upon by his involvement in a tragic accident that leads to an innocent death. His Dwight unravels slowly before our eyes, and there is compelling evidence in his every gesture, look, reaction that it is certainly one of the worst moments in the life of a man that is eventually going to snap. Mirroring Dwight's reaction is Phoenix's traumatized father who seeks both revenge and justice and is constantly frustrated by the lack of efficient detective work to find the responsible party. As the film reaches its climax, the level of suffering displayed by Phoenix is eroding his logic and making us gasp as he takes an unbelievable approach to solve the situation. There are of course, other affected relationships, and the supportive work by Jennifer Connelly helps us witness the domestic disintegration of Phoenix's family. She somehow slowly learns to cope with the loss of their child, and we are witness to her emotional turmoil. Her mind remains lucid and she finds incomprehensible what she notices is happening to her husband. Something is going, and yet she can't understand the intensity of the negative effects on her husband. The film reminds of 'Little Children' where dark forces seemed to be stronger than logic and compassion. In this one, the thirst for justice evolves into a mad search for revenge and ways to exorcise demands that terrorize us. It's a powerful movie that came a bit short of being perfect, but that holds well because of the exquisite work by all of the performers involved.
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