Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole Review

Rabbit Hole Overview

This is the extraordinary story of Becca and Howie. Eight months ago, they had a picture-perfect life with their young son. Now, they are posing as normal in the wake of an enormous loss; blindly looking for footing in a sea of new emotions. This is the remarkably moving journey of a couple finding their way back to love.

Rabbit Hole Specifications

What happens after the unthinkable happens? Rabbit Hole, based on the Tony-winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire and deftly directed by John Cameron Mitchell, slowly reveals the answer: something else unthinkable. Rabbit Hole is a moving, dark character study of what happens to a happily married couple, Becca and Howie (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart), who suddenly lose the love of their life, their 4-year-old son. As in real life, the grief portrayed in Rabbit Hole takes peculiar twists and turns, and the deep sorrow and tragedy of the story is leavened by dark humor--much of it coming from Kidman. While Rabbit Hole is not an upbeat film, it's emotionally resonant in the ways of some of the best films on similar subjects--like Ordinary People, Revolutionary Road, In the Bedroom. Both Kidman and Eckhart bring true humanity to roles that could have been one-dimensional. Kidman, especially, rejects the platitudes offered by the grievance support groups and well-meaning friends. When one acquaintance explains the loss of her own child as, "God needed another angel," Kidman's Becca snaps. "Then why wouldn't He have just made another angel? He's God, after all. Why not just make another angel?" The beauty and power of Rabbit Hole comes from showing how Becca and Howie make it back to a life they can bear--and, just maybe, to each other. The excellent supporting cast includes Sandra Oh (another member of the support group) and Dianne Wiest as Becca's mom, who's been through something similar. Everything about Rabbit Hole feels genuine, almost delicate, from the cinematography to the gentle but extremely moving score. Rabbit Hole is one of the most moving dramas and one of the saddest films a viewer will feel gratified to embrace. --A.T. Hurley