Rabbit Hole (2010)

Few eyes were dry in the Sunday afternoon screening of this beautiful story of a couple picking up the pieces after losing their four year old. That said, it's not unrelenting, with moments of comic relief and a house to die for (sorry!) with wrap-around porches apparently on the Hudson in Yonkers NY. Nicole Kidman is Oscar nominated for her role as the grieving mother Becca and it's a standout performance, incorporating the prickliness from Margot at the Wedding (2007) without the insanity (my other favorites: Malice (1993), To Die For (1995) (not sorry!), Batman Forever (1995), Practical Magic (1998), and The Human Stain (2003)). Aaron Eckhart (wonderful in Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Nurse Betty (2000), my personal favorite Thank You for Smoking (2005), No Reservations, Towelhead, and a different Batman movie, The Dark Knight) is also terrific as the father Howie. Becca and Howie are grown-ups, committed to their marriage and their recovery, but it's a long hard road, as anyone who has loved a child can imagine. Dianne Wiest (faves: Hannah and her Sisters (1986), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), both of which earned her Oscars, Independence Day (1983), Parenthood (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Practical Magic, where she played Kidman's aunt, among others) is also great as Becca's mom, and Sandra Oh (best known for Grey's Anatomy, I loved her in Double Happiness (1994), Arli$$ (HBO 1996-2002), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) and Sideways (2004)) has a low-key cameo.

Director John Cameron Mitchell has strayed far from his last two features--the transgender Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) and the orgiastic Shortbus (2006), both of which he wrote--by picking this Pulitzer Prize winning stage play and getting its writer David Lindsay-Abaire to adapt his own screenplay. It's not your typical stage-to-screen static adaptation, with many cinematic touches, including the sure hand of an artist drawing abstract shapes (more will be revealed).

The classical guitar soundtrack by Anton Sanko is so good I just bought it, even though the tracks are so short I'm considering joining them digitally (you can listen to clips on the amazon page by clicking Play all samples). The song in the trailer is The High Road by Broken Bells. The whole thing is just incredible. Highly recommended.