Rabbit Hole movie review & film summary (2010)

She is also not hearing her mother (Dianne Wiest) or a younger sister (Tammy Blanchard). She's not even on good terms with the dog. Sadness for her has settled into discontent. As a couple, they've reached that point of touchiness where nothing ever seems to be the right thing to say. What makes John Cameron Mitchell's film so interesting is that it bravely investigates what you say then.

I know all this sounds like a mournful dirge, but in fact, "Rabbit Hole" is entertaining and surprisingly amusing, under the circumstances. The film is in a better state of mind than its characters. Its humor comes, as the best humor does, from an acute observation of human nature. We have known people something like this. We smile in recognition.

I was interested in Nicole Kidman's performance. I've always believed her to be talented, since all those years ago when she and Thandie Newton starred in the wonderful "Flirting" (1991). She seems to be two people: the glamorous star of "Moulin Rouge" and "Nine," and the risky, daring actress in "Birth," "The Hours" and "Eyes Wide Shut." Celebrity has clouded her image; if she were less glamorous, she would be more praised. Age will only be an asset to her.

Here she plays the character who changes; she's the balance point of the story. Howie has things that happen in his life, but he essentially remains the same man. Becca is troubled and disturbed beyond the depths created eight months ago, and "Rabbit Hole" is about how she's pulled by inner tides.

The wonder is that Mitchell and David Lindsay-Abaire's screenplay see her confusion fairly clearly. Apart from anything else, "Rabbit Hole" is a technical challenge. It is simple enough to cover the events in the story, not so simple to modulate them for humor and even warmth. I knew what the movie would be about, but I was impressed by how it was about it.

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