Reservation Road

Plot synopsis:
Dwight Arno (Ruffalo) is an attorney who is divorced from his wife Ruth (Sorvino). Ruth controls custody of their son Lucas (Alderson) while Dwight maintains visitation rights. Dwight and Lucas are at a baseball game when Ruth calls, informing Dwight that he is late returning their son home. Dwight drives Lucas home in a hurry, thinking he might otherwise forfeit his visitation privileges. When he loses control of his vehicle, he strikes a young boy, Josh Learner (Curley), who is standing by the roadside.
Aware that he has struck the boy, Dwight decides to flee the scene. He further lies to Lucas, who has a minor injury from the incident, saying that they had collided with a tree log. Dwight later hears on a newscast that Josh died in the collision. Subsequently, he tries to cover up the evidence which implicates him in the hit-and-run. After the initial shock of losing Josh, Grace (Connelly) gradually tries to get on with life, but her husband Ethan (Phoenix), is obsessed with finding out who killed their son and frustrated with the lack of progress the police are making in their investigation. Ethan eventually decides to hire a lawyer, who oddly enough turns out to be Dwight.
Ethan later discovers, quite by chance, that Dwight is the perpetrator. Fearing that Dwight would be incarcerated for only a few years via the court system, he buys a gun to dispense his own form of justice.

Tags: revenge

Review:
Ethan and Grace Lerner (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly, respectively) are a well-to-do couple living in an affluent Connecticut town who lose a child in a hit and run accident.
I think it works better to not know how Ethan and Dwight meet and proceed to dance around this event, but when they do, is when the real enjoyment of this film begins.Sorvino does a fine job, and Connelly, in a larger and more difficult role, does a very good job, but this film belongs to the male leads.
Ethan is a devoted husband and father whose world suddenly ceases to make sense following this tragedy and seeing him pull away from his family as he gets lost in his depths of grief and fanatical in his quest to find the killer gives Phoenix room to further display his remarkable range.
Negligent drivers, either through drink driving, or being distracted while on the road, probably won't elicit much sympathy, especially so from the family of the victim, and in Reservation Road, powerful drama is weaved amongst the characters on both sides of the hit and run equation.Reservation Road refers to the scene of the crime, where the Learners - dad Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix), mom Grace (Jennifer Connelly) and daughter Emma (Elle Fanning) lose their son/brother in an accident, caused by a man in a baseball cap, driving an SUV.
And the daughter finds ways to cope with the loss through channeling her energies into performance.On the other angle, Mark Ruffalo plays Dwight the lawyer, who's estranged from his wife Ruth (Mira Sorvino) and has visiting rights to their son.
On the other, we also realize his pain and his fear - it takes a lot to own up, especially when it involves lives being taken away, and from people we remotely know, no thanks to six degrees of separation.Based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda), some might wonder if the coming together of the key characters are a tad convenient.
This film is about a grieving family dealing with the loss of their son after a hit and run accident.The plot is very strong, It shows the driver's guilt and shame, the unrelenting pursuit of the father trying to find the driver, and a grieving mother who wants to move on.
This is an outstanding film that really showcases the dramatic depths of Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly.We're dealing with a first rate picture of a divorced attorney, on the road with his son, who accidentally hits and kills the young son of a college professor.
Instead of turning himself in, the attorney (Ruffalo) panics and runs from the scene.Can you imagine the irony of the situation when the professor hires the attorney's firm to keep the heat on the police?This is not only a story of a tragedy, it goes into great depth concerning this horror's effects on the attorney, the professor and the professor's wife.
All 3 of the actors turn in gems of performances with Ruffalo's exhibiting a major guilt feeling, an inconsolable Phoenix and Connelly, desperately trying to make a life with their surviving young daughter.This story deals with the leniency of the courts in these types of cases.
Story of what happens in the aftermath of a hit and run as the family of the boy killed looks for closure and the man who hit him tries to see if he can live with himself.Well acted and good looking, I was disappointed in that its very much by the numbers.
Meanwhile the divorced lawyer Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) is driving his son Lucas (Eddie Alderson) back to his ex-wife Ruth (Mira Sorvino) home after watching a Red Sox baseball game.
The family man Dwight is divided between going to the police station and loose his son and live with an increasing remorse."Reservation Road" is a powerful and heartbreaking drama based on a fatal hit-and-run accident that destroys two families.
the only aspects worth watching are the two fathers and the respective actors that are doing a GREAT job, showing a whole range of emotions and definitely deserve credit; especially Joaquin Phoenix as the mourning father that just can not let go.however those are the only positive thoughts; the suspense is NON-existent, a story line well too predictable that only target emotions in a well to known moralistic way.
This is an excruciatingly intense drama and engrossing as well.A happy couple suffer when one of their children is the victim of a "hit and run" and the film focuses both on the family of the victim and on the perpetrator too and what they do for closure or to assuage their "guilt" etc.All the actors give totally convincing performances.
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 Curley) and Emma (Elle Fanning) are the 'perfect family', living comfortably in Connecticut, until one night after a picnic where Josh captured fireflies for his sister, the family stops at a roadside station and while Josh releases the fireflies at his mother's request he is hit by a car and killed.
The driver of the car is Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) who is trying to return his son Lucas (Eddie Alderson) to his estranged, remarried wife Ruth (Mira Sorvino) after a baseball game that ran too long.
The final effects on each of these bruised people bring a surprising end to the story.The quality of acting is strong as we have come to expect with the likes of Phoenix, Connelly, Ruffalo and Sorvino, who bring us into the tough story with considerable commitment: we understand the thoughts and drives of each of these sad characters.
If you are willing to overlook the flaws, it makes a compelling and unique viewing experience.It is a story about grief and guilt and how similar they are in their effects despite being at opposite ends of a tragedy.The acting alone is enough to justify watching this film.
Of course it's not prefect but it really is a good film and just to see Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo act superbly would be well worth it as it had my eyes watering at every dramatic event.Apart from the two leading males I believe Jennifer Connely was very good as her role as the morning mother.
Joaquin Phoenix stars as Ethan Learner, a devoted father and college professor whose life instantly goes into a melancholy zone when his son Josh is accidentally killed in a motor vehicle crash in, yea you got it, Connecticut's Reservation Road.
These characters are all interjected by accident when Dwight tardily drives his son Lucas back to Ruth's house after a Boston Red Sox game and his Explorer accidentally runs over young Josh on the side of the road while he was releasing some fireflies from a jar.
I must say that my George did proficiently master the directorial art of getting the best of his thespians because Phoenix, Ruffalo, Connelly, and Sorvino were not an acting environmental hazard to "Reservation Road" and were driven to steer their characters in the fitting poignant direction.
Let's take these two horror films : Saw 3 and Hostel.Both movies share the same characteristic : they show extremely bloody torture scenes but they never produce impact on the spectator because there is not enough endorsement on the screenplay.So,that two films are show extreme torture scenes but they do not an impact on the spectator.I think that kind of horror movies have a compatibility with dramas like Babel or Reservation Road : they are worried in showing human suffering but all that suffering does not produce impact on the spectator because there is not enough endorsement on the screenplay.So,I think these dramas are the "artistic" equivalent to that horror films.Reservation Road is a good film,I do not deny it,but it did not satisfy me too much because this movie is only worried on showing suffering without any endorsement or porpoise.Plus,everything in this movie looks depressing.I do not want a happy feeling on every movie I see but I think this film had an excessively depressing tone which made it a little bit tired.Now,for the positive sight,I have to mention the good elements from this movie.The performances are excellent and the ones that specially stand out are the ones from Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix.These two actors take possession of their characters and they never seem to be acting.The ending was OK and,in spite of the depressing tone and some tired moments,in general,the movie did not bore me.I think I can recommend Reservation Road for the positive elements,specially the performances.But what I find difficult,is to recommend it with enthusiasm..
College professor Ethan Learner (Joaquin Phoenix), his wife Grace, their son Joah and daughter Emma (Elle Fanning) stop at a gas station late at night.
This is a fine film that explores a difficult subject well and whilst it is by no means a perfect movie (it loses it's way a little halfway through) it is well worth a watch for those that like hard hitting emotional drama..
Based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz, "Reservation Road" is an extraordinarily compelling and beautifully acted drama that looks at a single tragic event – the hit-and-run death of a ten-year-old boy – from dueling perspectives.
Dwight is a divorced lawyer with a young son of his own, and his life in this rural corner of Connecticut is torn asunder every bit as much as it is for the family of the dead boy.As Ethan comes to believe that the culprit will never be caught – and that the loophole-laden legal system will allow him to weasel out of any meaningful punishment even if he is – the emotionally decimated father decides to take matters into his own hands, much to the consternation of his wife, who would prefer he spend his time trying to heal the family and work to make it whole again.Despite the premise, "Reservation Road" is no cheap exploitative revenge-fantasy but rather a profoundly moving and insightful look into the various ways in which human beings cope with tragedy.
They returned to Ireland for various film projects.This tragic story takes place in leafy Stamford Connecticut and makes good use of this beautiful setting to convey its shattering situation - much of which is brought about by pressure upon weekend visiting dad (Ruffalo) to get his beloved son back to his mother on time.
Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic as the grieving father out seeking revenge, in the kind of performance that really makes you feel for the guy, but aside from that, Reservation Road is just a very predictable film that is out for one thing, your tears.
Released in 2007, "Reservation Road" is a sad drama starring Mark Ruffalo as a divorced father in coastal Connecticut who commits a hit and run while in a hurry.
But Jason's father Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) doesn't, and his eagerness to find out makes him angry and drives him away from his beautiful wife Grace (Jennifer Conelly) and his daughter Emma (Elle Fanning).
It's a way of filming that's not good for the story or the characters; it makes everything more predictable and empty.Altogether and with time, the movie loses credibility.
Joaquin Phoenix,and Mark Ruffalo shines in this sad drama,sometimes they just too strong,it's their movie,screenplay writers wanted something more,but that is not enough strong to be enough memorable when these two fantastic actors are on the screen,but the movie has it's own message.Jennifer Connelly,and Mira Sorvino are not enough memorable in this,unfortunately the two main male characters pushed them to the invisible zone,I mean If I don't see the movies main page before I send this comment,I will not remember them.7/10-one of the better social-family dramas I've seen in this year..
You can argue about the "coincidences " in the screenplay :the choice of the lawyer,the piano teacher...And Ruffalo's family problems has become a cinema cliché.But all that remains is deeply moving :Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo give both extremely good performances,particularly the latter in his last scenes.The story is (unfortunatel) so common it could happen to anyone of us : we could be the hit and run or the victim's father.What happened to them could happen to us as well.What would we have done if we had been in Dwight's shoes?
Such is the case in the melancholy Reservation Road, which tells the story of two men whose lives are shattered in the blink of an eye, and the guilt and fear that grow from the festering wound it leaves.Joaquin Phoenix stars as Ethan Learner, a college professor who, while driving home with his wife Grace (Jennifer Connelly) and two young children Emma and Josh (Elle Fanning and Sean Curley), decide to make a stop at a gas station on Reservation Road.
It's there that in one quick moment of tragedy Josh is accidentally hit and killed by an SUV driven by lawyer Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo), frantically rushing his son home to his ex-wife after a Red Sox game.Compounding the tragedy is Dwight's decision, rendered in a split second, to speed away from the scene, leaving Ethan with only a blurred fleeting glimpse and little else to aid the police with their investigation.In the days that follow, the inner torture that both sides face threatens to destroy the very fabric of their souls.Directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) and based on the critically acclaimed novel by John Burnham Schwartz (who co-wrote the screenplay with George), the story adds a darker layer to the human tragedy when Ethan unwittingly opts to hire Dwight as his lawyer to help ensure the killer is prosecuted to the full extent of the law, should he be captured.Both Phoenix and Ruffalo turn in impressive performances as two men whose insides have been rendered asunder by the accident.
And I was not wrong.After viewing a baseball match with his son, lawyer Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo), by mistake, drives over and kills the child of Ethan Learner (Joaquin Phoenix) and Grace Learner (Jennifer Connelly).
(My Synopsis) Ethan Learner (Joaquin Phoenix), his wife Grace (Jennifer Connelly), their 10-year old son Josh (Sean Curley), and younger daughter Emma (Elle Fanning) are going home after Josh's musical recital.
I liked this movie and it meant well , exploring the psychology of the victims , particularly the dead boys dad , and his obsession with finding his sons hit and run suspect.This film, as well , explored the situation from , the suspects point of view.
YES.I guess I should have expected that, given the plot circumstances  Mark Ruffalo's character kills Joaquin & Jennifer's son in a hit & run.
The excellent acting of Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo raises the level of Reservation Road from what might have been a run-of-the-mill film seen on some cable network such as Lifetime to an engrossing look at two men enduring an unimaginable crisis.Phoenix plays Ethan Learner, a happily married man with two children.
Dwight hesitates but then drives on.From here proceeds a story with coincidences, twists of fate, despair, rage, and an edge-of-seat climatic scene delivered with fervor by Phoenix and Ruffalo as Ethan and Dwight.As I said, this sounds as if it would make a perfect Lifetime movie, but the portrayal of the lives of these two men after this tragic accident is far above par for a movie of this sort, and the acting of the entire cast plus the deft direction of Terry George are to be credited in making this an first-rate film.The women of this film are Jennifer Connelly as Ethan's wife, Grace, and Mira Sorvino as Dwight's ex-wife, Ruth.Connelly gives a heart wrenching performance as a mother whose child is killed who only wants to hide away from life, but her strength and devotion to her daughter and husband enable her to move forward in an effort to save her crumbling family.Sorvino first appears as a shrill harridan-like woman who, over the period of the film, softens into a more insightful human being.I would be remiss if I did not cite the performances of the two leading children in this film.Eddie Alderson as Dwight's pre-adolescent son gives a stirring performance as a boy torn between the love and doubt of his father.Elle Fanning (Dakota's younger sister) is angelic and strong as the Learner daughter.
Based on a novel I never read, this movie is about a father (played by Joaquin Phoenix) who lost his son in a freak hit-and-run accident.
Reservation Road is a film based on the book of the same title by John Burnham Schwartz.The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo, deals with the aftermath of a tragic car accident.Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino play key supporting roles.It was directed by Terry George.When his son is killed in an unsolved hit-and-run accident, a grieving father spends his waking hours seeking vengeance against the man who perpetrated the deadly crime.
When a child is killed in a hit and run accident, both his grieving father, Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix), and the guilt-ridden killer, Dwight, (Mark Ruffalo) suffer horribly.
The second family consist of husband (Ethan Learner, Joquain Phoenix), wife (Grace, Jennifer Connelly) son, (Josh, Sean Curley) and daughter (Emma, Elle Fanning) who are returning from a day out.
Ethan Lerner(Joaquin Phoenix)and his wife(Jennifer Connelly)are on the way home from their son's cello recital.
Stopping for gas, the young boy is struck by an SUV driven by lawyer Dwight Arno(Mark Ruffalo), who himself is speeding on Reservation Road trying to get his own son back to his mother.
Directed by Terry George, "Reservation Road" is an intermittently interesting drama staring Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly as a husband and wife who lose their son during a hit-and-run accident.