Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix in Focus Features' Reservation Road

These two men never should have met, but after a hit-and-run accident takes Josh’s life in front of a roadside gas station the grieving father inadvertently hires the guilt-stricken driver of the speeding away vehicle as his lawyer to keep tabs on the subsequent police investigation. Soon Ethan is falling to pieces while Grace desperately tries to keep their family together, each clueless Dwight is going through his own personal battle trying to decide the best course of action for his own fractured family.

But truths cannot stay buried forever, and sooner or later one dad is going to be confronting the other with a secret neither wants to hear, the outcome of this skirmish potentially shattering both men’s lives, and their families, forever.

It probably sounds like I just gave away far too much in that brief description but, trust me, I really haven’t. If you watch the trailers or the commercials for the new film Reservation Road all of what I’ve written is explicitly outlined therein. What aren’t revealed, however, are the emotional layers the film travels upon or the gritty introspective brilliance of both Phoenix and Ruffalo. That is what makes director Terry George’s (Hotel Rwanda) film worth watching, not the basic melodramatic clichés unfortunately weighing down his and original author John Burnham Schwartz’s overwrought script.

And let me tell you, said script can be a bit rough every now and then here. This is a movie that places coincidence upon coincidence upon coincidence, and even though it is all set in small New England community where a little bit of happenstance would probably be okay at a certain point you just got to say enough is enough. By the time it was revealed Ruth was a music teacher and one of her students was Emma I actually thought my head was going to explode, this just the latest fluke bit of chance connecting everyone in something like two degrees of separation instead of the usual six.

But where the story can be a bit of a letdown, what George and Schwartz get absolutely spot-on is the unbridled uncomforting tragic emotion of the piece. Some of the scenes here knocked me senseless like a frigid slap across the face; a moment with Ethan and Grace on a doorstep, a moonlight dialogue between Dwight and Ruth revealing unparalleled clarity, a piano concerto from Emma soaring straighter to the heart then any syrupy monologue ever could.

Rising above all of this are two sensational performances by both Phoenix and Ruffalo bordering on the inspired. What these two do here is simply miraculous, each digging into their respective father with passion and energy elevating the picture to a plane it would not realize without them. They are, without question, magnificent, and by the time the film finally comes down to just the two of them my eyes were so wet with tears I’m surprised they didn’t melt right out of their sockets. 

In the end, if the movie connects with you on an emotional level than it is easy to enjoy even with its ample shortcomings. If it doesn’t without question George’s latest is going to be an extremely tough slog to try and make it through. Thankfully for me I find myself happily in the first camp, Reservation Road a human journey into darkness and redemption I’m more than happy to recommend.

Film Rating: êêê  (out of 4)

Additional Links:

-  Reservation Road Theatrical Trailer