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Rabbit Hole

5/10

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Miles Teller, Dianne Wiest, Tammy Blanchard, Giancarlo Esposito, Sandra Oh, Jon Tenney, Patricia Kalember

Director: John Cameron Mitchell

A low-key, depressing film about a couple (Kidman, Eckhart) grieving over the death of their four-year-old only son, run over when he chased into the road after his dog.

They try group therapy, but Becca (Kidman) becomes exasperated by the whiny attitude of bereaved parents who complain that 'God had to take her. He needed another angel'. Howie (Eckhart) is tempted to start an affair with a fellow pot-smoking group member (Oh), while Becca, who has both her mother (Wiest) and tearaway sister (Blanchard) to cope with, strikes up an unlikely relationship with the teenage boy (Teller) who was driving the fatal car.

A few rows and heart-to-hearts later, the couple, who haven't had sex since their son died eight months earlier, are no nearer coping, which is understandable, but, in film terms, lacks dramatic point.

Kidman, who still looks absurdly young in her 40s, and Blanchard are nobody's idea of sisters, but then Hollywood has never bothered itself with such genetic niceties. The piece is delicately well-acted, though, especially by Kidman.

David Quinlan

USA 2010. UK Distributor: Metrodome. Technicolor.
94 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 1, Swearing 1.

Review date: 29 Jan 2011