I've been wanting to see this for a while now; the trailer and subject matter reminds me very much of television show Six Feet Under, and seems the perfect thing to fill the void after I finished my marathon run through (I highly recommend it btw). Anyway, the film itself focuses on married couple Becca and Howie, who must deal with the unthinkable: the death of their child Danny. The title is in reference to how unreal a person feels after such a devastating loss, like Alice feels when she falls down the rabbit hole into a bizarre, new world in Alice In Wonderland. According to reviews, it's supposed to be a sensitive, at times humorous, portrayal of a difficult subject matter with incredible performances from all involved. There is a lot of Oscar buzz at the moment around the cast, especially Kidman. The film is adapted from the Pulitzer and Tony award winning play of the same name by David Lindsay-Abaire and currently has: a 88% rating on rottentomatoes after 16 reviews; a 75/100 score on metacritic based on three critics and a 8.1/10 rating on IMDB after 427 votes.

 

Release Dates: 17th December 2010 (US - limited release); 4th February 2011 (UK)

Director: John Cameron Mitchell

Screenwriter: David Lindsay-Abaire (adapting from his own play)

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne West, Sandra Oh and Miles Teller.

Synopsis: "Rabbit Hole is a vivid, hopeful, honest and unexpectedly witty portrait of a family searching for what remains possible in the most impossible of all situations.

 

Becca and Howie Corbett (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) 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 (Dianne West) and secretly reaches out to the teenager involved in the accident that changed everything (Miles Teller); while Howie lashes out and imagines solace with another woman (Sandra Oh). 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."

 

Posters:

 

http://content9.flixster.com/rtmovie/71/15/71151_gal.jpg

 

http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/rabbit-hole-poster-sml.jpg

 

Trailer:

 

 

Empire article: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?nid=29284

Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rabbit_hole/

Meta Critic: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/rabbit-hole

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0935075/

Edited December 10, 201014 yr by Daniel II

That second poster is great. I'm not totally sold on the film though. It looks like it's going to be frankly just a bit emotionally draining. I'm sure it'll very poignant, moving etc but it does all sound like a bit of a wrist slitter. I'm more in the mood for films with a bit more drama in them of late.

I cannot wait for this, the trailer/reviews look so promising. She hasn't really done anything great since the HIGHLY underrated Margot at the Wedding, although The Hours is one of my favourite films of all time.

I know I'm in the minority but I think Australia is truly FABULOUS.

I hadn't realised a DVD-rip had leaked onto the internet yesterday. I just watched it (couldn't wait until February). Incredible, heartbreaking, moving, intense - everything the critics have been saying and an absolute return to form for Kidman (although Eckhart was the most surprising). Virginia Woolf (and the nose) in The Hours will always be my favourite performance from Nicole but she really was brilliant in this, especially the scene in the supermarket. I really hope she gets a lot of recognition for a change. The role must have been incredibly draining, same goes for Aaron Eckhart. I've always liked him (Thank You For Smoking is one of my favourite films) but I thought they missed the ball with his casting... Couldn't have been more wrong. Seriously, he stole most of the scenes he was in, Sandra Oh was pretty good too. Hopefully this won't be a Revolutionary Road/The Reader situation where Kate Winslet got all the awards press and nominations instead of Leonardo Dicaprio (despite him outshining her in the former). They both deserve Oscar nominations, as does the score.

Edited December 11, 201014 yr by ▲▲▲

Read about this movie several months ago. I had this feeling there would be major buzz surrounding Kidman's performance. I really can't wait to see this

 

I'm super excited about this. The director is incredible (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus). Cannot wait. Gonna torrent it tonight.

Just watched it and found it a truly fantastic movie. It's the first movie i have seen this year as well. Nicole Kidman is brilliant and it's great to see her at her best. She hasn't done a good movie in about 5/6 years imo. Aaron Eckheart, Sandra Oh and Dianne Wiest all play good parts. I hope Kidman, Eckheart and Wiest all are nominated for oscars.

Really fantastic. Hard to watch, but really, really good. Damn.

I watched The Hours yesterday and Nicole kidman's performance in this is 10 times better than that. While she physically became Virignia Woolfe, her performance lacked life and heart. But i still need to see the other actresses performances in other oscar tipped films to compare. But so far, i want Kidman to win.

Completely disagree. She was brilliant in this but the scene at the train station (The Hours) remains one of my favourite performances ever.

 

Edit:

I find her performance completley overated in the movie as a whole. She didn't given her all in it. If anyone gave a fantastic performance in The Hours, it was Meryl Streep who gave an honest, charming but heartbreaking performance. Nicole Kidman's performances in Moulin Rouge and The Others have been much more versatile and a powerful.

EVERYBODY in The Hours KILLS IT but it's Julianne Moore who pips the others I reckon. Her little suburban hell was so perfectly played. And Toni Colette as her neighbour is off the chain.

Toni Collette was fantastic in the scene she did. Incredible actress as a whole. Kidamn, Collette and even Griffiths are all three fantastic australian actresses.

Cate Blanchett is the ULTIMATE Ozzy Hollywood queen. Sorry Nicole but you've never been Queen Elizabeth I.

Oh to be fair, i have never seen her in a film. Award and acclaim wise, she has done better than Kidman.

Oh to be fair, i have never seen her in a film. Award and acclaim wise, she has done better than Kidman.

 

You haven't seen one Cate Blanchett film? Notes on a Scandal remains my favourite performance from her.

No i haven't but i am eager too several of hers.

 

Golden globes tonight. I really hope Kidman wins.

Saw this a while back, but haven’t been on Buzzjack for a while to comment. The film as a whole is stripped back and brightly lit, which helps maintain a realistic, quite harsh tone throughout. What I particularly liked was that it never sets out to manipulate emotionally or to be too overly dramatic – at first the restrained feel seems a mile away from Mitchell’s previous film Shortbus, which was far more open (ha ha) and out there, but it turns out it’s not that much of a leap for him. His dark humour emerges during scenes like the weed smoking sessions and both films deal with spirituality and the idea that everything is connected (in Shortbus sexually, in this it explores that concept through the idea of alternate dimensions).

 

Nicole Kidman was indeed as fantastic as everyone has been saying, giving a very raw, honest and emotive performance without every falling into cliché melodramatics which she so easily could have done. She played the character with a dry, sardonic sense of humour, (the couples counselling scenes in particular) clearly in part to help show her character detaching herself from her grief; but with the sadness and emptiness only lurking beneath the surface – in her mannerisms and her eyes - so when she finally does break down at the supermarket and in her car, it makes those moments all the more powerful and hard hitting. She should get the Oscar in my opinion, and even though the winners seem locked down, I would cheer (internally of course) if she did cause an upset. I loved Portman, but I don’t think the performance was so excellent as to deserve to be the runaway favourite. Unfortunately, due to outside factors it’s inevitably turned out that way. Maybe I’m just being anti-populist but whatever. In an ideal world Eckhart would have also been nominated for his performance, as the husband who’s trying to reach out to his wife while at the same time unable to move on from his own pain. Unfortunately, I guess Kidman’s more “showy” performance took the attention away from his more introverted one.

 

She really does deserve the oscar, thank for agreeing. I felt alone. The fact Portman won the golden globe and is the firm favourite gives her no reason to win the oscar at all actually. I stand by that she doesn't deserve the oscar. I will be very annoyed and continue disagree if she does win late next month. Her portrayal is no where near oscar worthy at all. Oscars have in the past given the oscars to actors who didn't win any other awards prior. I hope that is the case. I hope their is a shock.