Rabbit Hole

Name: Rabbit Hole
Genre: Drama
Released: December 17, 2010
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 76
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest, Nicole Kidman

2010

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Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 92 Ratings

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7.6

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7.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 92 Ratings

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Rabbit Hole

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Movie Details & Credits

Lionsgate | Release Date: December 17, 2010 | PG-13

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest, Nicole Kidman

Summary: Becca and Howie Corbett are returning to their everyday existence in the wake of a shocking, sudden loss. Just eight months ago, they were a happy suburban family with everything they wanted. Now, they are caught in a maze of memory, longing, guilt, recrimination, sarcasm and tightly controlled rage from which they cannot escape. WhileBecca and Howie Corbett are returning to their everyday existence in the wake of a shocking, sudden loss. Just eight months ago, they were a happy suburban family with everything they wanted. Now, they are caught in a maze of memory, longing, guilt, recrimination, sarcasm and tightly controlled rage from which they cannot escape. While Becca finds pain in the familiar, Howie finds comfort. The shifts come in abrupt, unforeseen moments. Becca hesitantly opens up to her opinionated, loving mother and secretly reaches out to the teenager involved in the accident that changed everything; while Howie lashes out and imagines solace with another woman. Yet, as off track as they are, the couple keeps trying to find their way back to a life that still holds the potential for beauty, laughter and happiness. The resulting journey is an intimate glimpse into two people learning to re-engage with each other and a world that has been tilted off its axis. [Lionsgate]… Expand

Director: John Cameron Mitchell

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 91 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Steve Persall

Jan 12, 2011

Sounds depressing, although Rabbit Hole isn't, with David Lindsay-Abaire presenting a perceptive, subtly dark-humored adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Read full review

David Edelstein

Dec 20, 2010

The Kidman in Rabbit Hole is a revelation. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Dec 24, 2010

Entertaining and surprisingly amusing, under the circumstances. The film is in a better state of mind than its characters. Its humor comes, as the best humor does, from an acute observation of human nature. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Dec 16, 2010

Nicole Kidman places the bereaved heroine of Rabbit Hole in a nether land between life and not-quite-life. Her beautiful performance transcends the specifics of the script, which David Lindsay-Abaire adapted from his play of the same name. Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

Jan 13, 2011

Mitchell keeps the direction simple and well-behaved, usually just pointing the camera at the speaker, but you can see why this topic appealed to him. Read full review

Michael Phillips

Dec 24, 2010

Rretains what made it work on stage, chiefly a disarming sense of humor amid the grimmest sort of personal crisis, and a pair of juicy leading roles. Read full review

Kyle Smith

Dec 17, 2010

It contains no poetry. It simply conjures up a horrible feeling -- and then sits back awaiting congratulation. Read full review

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User Reviews

willlybrand

Jan 22, 2011

'Rabbit Hole' is a modern day drama about how people cope with death. In particular, this film is about how two well-adjusted parents deal with the untimely death of their son. Uplifting, I know. That may sound like an unenjoyable premise, but 'Rabbit Hole' delivers a subtle but delightful'Rabbit Hole' is a modern day drama about how people cope with death. In particular, this film is about how two well-adjusted parents deal with the untimely death of their son. Uplifting, I know. That may sound like an unenjoyable premise, but 'Rabbit Hole' delivers a subtle but delightful punch that will leave you smiling. This movie, based on David Lindsay-Abaire's play, is absolutely worth seeing.

From the get go we learn that the stakes are high. The main characters, Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart), are unable to deal with the loss of their son. At a support group of similarly suffering parents we see that, as one may expect, everyone's state of mind and well being is constantly in flux. Even more, the very relationships holding these couples together is tearing at the seams. The mood is subtle and sad, but interspersed with melancholy snapshots of everyday life. I cared about these people because they are unique, they have incredible challenges to overcome, and they have imperfections they must deal with.

As the story unfolds we witness Becca and Howie's fruitless attempts to cope with the grief while slowly glimpsing the details of their son's death. Becca's family is supportive, however that doesn't prevent a number of confrontations when the topic of the accident comes up. Her mother (Dianne Wiest), wants nothing but to help but only ends up provoking Becca. These tension relieving arguments are both painful and believable. While Becca and Howie seek out their own individual outlets to get over their loss, they remain loosely coupled in what appears to be a now loveless marriage. It is what they find on their own that ultimately results in a wonderful final scene that is captivating, sad, and uplifting all at once.

I laughed at some of the atheistic remarks that Becca makes, most of which were biting and inappropriate. It closely mirrors my internal though process, words which I think but would never say. But Becca has no reason to hold things back. She's dealing with the death of her only son. This results in Becca putting those around her in unfair and difficult situations.

I also really enjoyed one of the group therapy scenes. Howie and another mother Gaby (Sandrah Oh) decide to get high in the parking lot before the meeting. The two stoned sufferers then laugh inappropriately when a couple talks about the death of their daughter. It was absolutely inappropriate, but their marijuana induced haze let them rise above the anguish of their children's deaths despite suffering that very same experience.

Nicole Kidman really shines in this movie. She has several awkward moments that are pitch perfect and entirely realistic. It's easy to identify with this character as we've all had such clumsy social encounters, however hers occur much more frequently as the result of the constant dwelling on the death of her son. Aaron Eckhart and Dianne West also shine in their performances, although Eckhart could at times be accused of being too subdued. West is rumored to be in the running for Supporting nominees. However, Miles Teller, a fairly unknown young actor who portrays Jason, the driver of the car in the accident, is perfectly cast. He's genuine and reserved and is completely captivating. His self made comic book, an artistic outlet to escape the death he caused, gives the movie it's namesake. It is the often unplanned meetings in which Jason and Becca speak about their shared misery that are the highlights of 'Rabbit Hole'.

As I hinted at earlier, 'Rabbit Hole' is very well written. The music accompanies the mood perfectly, primarily featuring a piano that slowly creeps in and out. And although it is very well shot, cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco takes no artistic risks beyond capturing the story on screen. I'm really happy to see director John Cameron Mitchell take a step back from his otherwise risquÃ© films. If this is the sort of drama he is capable of directing then I am excited to see what he'll do next.

I think this movie may never reach a critical audience because of its somber subject. That's unfortunate, because this sort of writing, acting, and story deserves to be both told and seen. 'Rabbit Hole' is truly unique in that it focuses squarely on people overcoming sadness and coping with pain in a very realistic human way. It tackles this somber subject with a refreshing sense of grace, humor, and relief.… Expand

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

Shiira

Jan 28, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Becca(Nicole Kidman) does not suffer fools gladly. And since those fools, by the grieving woman's estimation, are Christians, "Rabbit Hole" bravely saddles itself with an ice queen for a protagonist that some moviegoers may find hard to identify with. She's an atheist, an egotistical one to boot, who isn't at all shy about making her opinion heard, even in the most inappropriate of all venues, an encounter group, where charity is supposed to take precedence over ideology. As the young couple recounts their story of loss, Becca can't help but react with eye-rolling exasperation; her facial expressions, awash with contempt, lead to wounding words toward the bereaved parents, whose belief in angels is just too much for the empirical-minded nihilist. She behaves badly, perhaps abominably, but her churlish interruption serves an aesthetic purpose. The film's material, so often the stuff of inspirational made-for-television tripe, in which god is peddled as a knee-jerk cure-all for overcoming adversity, gets reworked in "Rabbit Hole" to evince a secular sensibility, a mindset that excludes the persistence of god's design upon the living as a crutch for dealing with loss. Foregoing the fellowship of the support group and her mother's church, Becca spends her days and nights in godless isolation, without a coping mechanism, and worse, because of her freethinking stance, god isn't even an option, a floating component in some desperate contingency plan, should her anguish over the dead child intensify. In a nutshell, "Rabbit Hole" is about finding a replacement, a surrogate, for god. Maybe Becca would make a good Buddhist. In the opening gardening scene, the obvious joy that spreads across the phantom mother's face after she plants a seedling is suggestive of the former Sotheby's Auction House executive having a deep reverence for nature, a prevailing trait that's universal to all eastern religions. The careless murder of the young plant by her neighbor's fatal footstep, can be interpreted as Christianity's monolithic influence over the religious spectrum in our country. But at the restaurant, following the altercation at the meeting, in addition to characterizing all Christians as "god freaks", Becca dismisses the other religions, as well, figuratively, when she goes through the menu list and declares to her husband(played by Aaron Eckhart) that "nothing is jumping out" at her, prompting them to seek nourishment and sustenance(read: enlightenment outside of religion) elsewhere. Ironically, Kidman played one of those freaks whom Becca loathes in Jonathan Glaser's "Birth", where magical thinking leads a widow to believe that a ten-year-old boy is the reincarnation of her late husband. The bride-to-be's undying faith, at its strongest, makes allowances for deviant behavior, in which she permits the pre-pubescent child to undress and join her in the bathtub without protestation. Becca's lack of faith, on the other hand, allows this science-based woman to cultivate a state of oblivion where signs and superstitions don't factor in her everyday living. When Becca pulls up alongside a lettered bus that reads "Deville", the fact that the word "devil" can be teased out of the overall appellation isn't given any significance, since the driver's categorical dismissal of the metaphysical world precludes her from signifying the biblical figure with an abiding belief in the fallen angel's ability to insinuate himself upon her reality. The teenaged boy in the bus window isn't the devil; he's just a kid, who happened to be at the wrong place and time. While Jesus saves in genre films of this sort, parallel ones in which the left behind find solace in god, it's science that provides comfort for Becca's troubled mind. Instead of a bible, the good book is a comic book called "Rabbit Hole", written by her son's murderer, which explores the possibility of alternate universes. Becca likes the idea that she's having a good time in one of these auxiliary worlds, because in one of these worlds, heaven is indeed a place on earth. It's heaven in the sense that the earthbound person imagines his/her dead loved one in another realm, and for the atheist, that realm is an earthly, not heavenly one. Science, as it turns out, has the benefits of religion, because Becca finds peace in imagining the continued existence of her son.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

NedRyerson1

Jul 17, 2012

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Rabbit Hole is a beautiful and authentic movie, because it portrays a couple mourning the death of his son; also the things they do to overcome the loss are the same that anyone would do in that position. Another interesting thing is the title, because it is taken from the comic book made by the young boy who provokes the accident that changes the lives of Becca and Howie forever. The rabbit hole mix the wormhole (takes you to another dimension) and the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland (takes you to a wonderland). Metaphorically speaking, the protagonists travel through different rabbit holes, which are the path that both decide to take hoping to find comfort and also a way out from their situation.
This rabbit holes or paths that Becca tries are taking care of the garden; get away of her husband, family, friends, support group and God; remove everything that reminds them of their loss; and talk with the boy who provoke the accident. In the other hand there is Howie, whose paths are the opposite from Becca; he tries taking care of their dog; get close to his wife (here we see an interesting paradox), family, friends and support group; maintains what his wife want to get rid of; and starts a relationship with another woman.
Finally they both realize that the paths taken, either together or separately, led they know that there is a point where the pain is bearable, but will never disappear; you just have to live with it. Nicole Kidman gives one of her best performances ever.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

KenR

Aug 11, 2020

Did not know anything about this movie before watching and came away impressed. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart do wondrous things with their roles as parents grieving a loss. I’ve always loved Dianne Wiest and she delivers in her interesting support role. While the theme may sound likeDid not know anything about this movie before watching and came away impressed. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart do wondrous things with their roles as parents grieving a loss. I’ve always loved Dianne Wiest and she delivers in her interesting support role. While the theme may sound like something to avoid David Lindsay Abaire’s fine screenplay, based on his Pulitzer Prize play of the same name makes it a riveting experience. It looks good, does not try to add silly padded diversions and leads you on a believable journey of discovery and understanding. Makes a refreshing change from the standard Hollywood fare and all performances are first class - with nice cinematography and music score rounding it off. Pleased Kidman gave up yet another Woody Allan film in preference for this one.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

eliteco3

Feb 21, 2013

Echhart and Kidman display the realistic struggle a couple faces after losing a child flawlessy. Both characters find solice in their own way. The climax of the firm is delivered with authenticity and substance.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

JamesL

Feb 7, 2011

I enjoyed this film more than I expected. Kidman and Eckert delivered enough strong emotional scenes to compensate for some of the melodramatic ones. I enjoyed seeing this after "Blue Valentine" due to the socio-economic contrasts. I did find it odd that they were living on one salary and II enjoyed this film more than I expected. Kidman and Eckert delivered enough strong emotional scenes to compensate for some of the melodramatic ones. I enjoyed seeing this after "Blue Valentine" due to the socio-economic contrasts. I did find it odd that they were living on one salary and I never knew what he did for a living. The group therapy scene was a favorite when she asked the $64 million question that the religious people can never seem to answer. I had the same experience on a different topic.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

metamotivcritic

Jan 22, 2011

That Mitchell could have taken a very affecting (and effective) , Pulitzer-prize winning play and made it into such a bland, unaffecting, loosely structured movie is a real pity. (Even someone I know who lost a child and went through the grieving process portrayed in the movie described itThat Mitchell could have taken a very affecting (and effective) , Pulitzer-prize winning play and made it into such a bland, unaffecting, loosely structured movie is a real pity. (Even someone I know who lost a child and went through the grieving process portrayed in the movie described it as "boring.") This is clearly one of those cases in which remaining faithful to the original source would have been preferable. That Mitchell didn't go the usual Hollywood soap opera route is pretty much damning by faint praise. That he could have taken such fine actresses as Nicole Kidman and Dianne Wiest and directed them in such uninspired performances is also regrettable. (That Sandra Oh and the dog (no offense to Sandra) gave the best performances in the movie is a commentary on both the movie and on the silliness of Oh's character on Gray's Anatomy.). Finally, that the 20-year old film Ordinary People was so much better than this one is, I guess, a tribute to Robert Redford (among other things).… Expand

1 of 6 users found this helpful15

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