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RESERVATION ROAD Send This Review to a Friend
Personal trauma is at the heart of “Reservation Road,” showcased at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and directed by Terry George from a screenplay he wrote with John Burnham Schwartz based on Schwartz’s novel. The film explores how a family deals with the sudden tragic death of a young son and how the hit-and-run driver who killed the boy deals with the battle between his wanting to avoid responsibility and his conscience. Such are the problems encountered in this sensitive, disturbing film.
The cast consists of Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly as the bereaved parents, and Mark Ruffalo as the perpetrator, whose ex-wife is played by Mira Sorvino. All are excellent in their roles, and the film is emotionally touching at various times. It also implies a hypothetical question: How would one act in such circumstances?
The film puts us in the position of having to judge the behavior of Dwight (Ruffalo), who is tortured by what he has done, but desperately wants to save himself and be available as father to his own young son. Meanwhile, the father of the child who was killed is eager to avenge his death, learn who the killer is and take the law into his own hands. But is he the sort who can carry out vindictiveness to its logical conclusion?
Credibility is not one of the film’s strong points. But the basic situation and the skill of the cast compensate considerably, thereby allowing us to focus on emotional situations as we ponder how we would respond if we were faced with the occurrences in which the characters are caught up. A Focus Features release.
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