Reservation Road

There's a kind of tough beauty to this deft, satisfying thriller. more

It's a relentlessly downbeat, well-acted melodrama that's easy to admire, but intentionally impossible to enjoy. more

A powerful Christian parable, painful but illuminating, about crime and redemption. more

Connelly, in particular, soars as the nail-biting mother trying desperately to put on a brave face and keep her family together, while Ruffalo and Phoenix, two of Hollywood's best brooders, are excellent as wounded young fathers. more

Instead of a tense, emotional and psychological thriller or a thoughtful exploration of grief and guilt, what we end up with is ... soap. Whether you choose to wash your hands of it is up to you. more

Unrelentingly bleak, the movie is nonetheless a riveting drama with some outstanding performances. more

It's hard to watch two fine actors working themselves into a lather for so little reward. more

Tries rather feebly to examine complex questions of morality. It does a better job of capturing a sense of shattering grief, but it gets too caught up in plot contrivances and coincidences to be believable. more

The book tore at my heart; the movie left me strangely unmoved. more

Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera. more

The profound effects of the accidental death of a child on three families is vividly portrayed in this dark film by writer/director Terry George ('Hotel Rwanda', Hart's War', 'In the Name of the Father') as adapted and co-written by John Burnham Schwartz on whose novel the film is based. While it seems we are seeing a glut of films dealing with revenge on the part of injured people who feel the Law isn't fulfilling its duty, when a film such as RESERVATION ROAD comes along the theme feels fresh. Ethan and Grace Learner (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) and their children Josh (Sean... more

Amazon Verified Purchase ( What's this? ) It has been hard to write this review, as I really loved the book and the author did work on the screenplay (which was ultimately trimmed by the director, I believe). The movie has so many strong points and it deals with one of the most painful losses a parent can endure - and in such a terribly tragic and sudden way, no warning at all. MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: When the Lerner family is driving home one night, they make a stop at a gas station. That is when their son gets out of the car to let some lightening bugs out of a jar, a car comes along, hits... more

The Lerner family attends a summer concert featuring their son, Josh. Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix), the dad and a Professor, his wife, Grace (Jennifer Connelly) and their daughter clap enthusiastically when the concert is over. During the drive home, Emma (Elle Fanning, Dakota's sister) has to stop at a gas station to use the restroom. Divorced dad, Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) and his son Lucas (Eddie Arno) are enjoying a Red Sox game when the game goes into overtime prompting Lucas' mom (Mira Sorvino) to call them because they are late. Racing home, Lucas falls asleep as Dwight watches the time... more