Reservation RoadThe Honda Accord of movies  October 17,
2007 12:23:24 PM
RESERVATION ROAD: A perfectly reliable, but lifeless ride.
|
The model family of college professor Ethan Learner (Joaquin Phoenix) ruptures when his angelic, slow-to-move son is killed by a hit-and-run driver. The driver of the offending SUV is hasty attorney Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo), who has a son of his own and a set of problems that pre-date his under-par swerving skills. Director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) lets the film hang on that one moment, giving us an hour of Ethan’s cardigan-clad Death Wish antics. He also redefines the word “thriller” by indulging in endless scenes of Ethan looking at Web sites. All alone. In his jammies. More engaging is Dwight’s turmoil and his sinuous resolve to come clean. Films like Reservation Road are the Honda Accords of movies — faux classy, perfectly reliable, and lifeless by design.
|
 |
|
- Inside the prize-filled trophy home of a seemingly obsessive-compulsive contest enterer
- A do-gooder who recorded abusive Boston police officers was himself arrested under a controversial ‘wiretapping’ law
- That intoxicating smell, the siren-call sizzle — looks like pop culture has gone hog wild
- Never mind its tough-girl alt-porn feminism: SuicideGirls has already moved on to a new generation
- We already know about politicians’ capacity for coarse behavior. But how low can the press go?
- Body modification as art at the Peabody Essex Museum
- That intoxicating smell, the siren-call sizzle — looks like pop culture has gone hog wild
- Is there one political story the press shouldn’t report?
- Dutoit and Elder at the BSO, Collage’s Berio, Boston Conservatory’s Turn of the Screw, and Kurt Weill at the Gardner and the MFA
- Body modification as art at the Peabody Essex Museum
- The right of a performance artist represents the rights of all Americans. Plus, an opportunity with Cuba.
- We already know about politicians’ capacity for coarse behavior. But how low can the press go?
|
-
Disinterestedly coughed up
-
Not original "original" screenplay
-
Juno is in the family way
-
Hallmark cribbing
-
Better than fairy-tale straightjackets
-
Buddy story meets History Channel remake
-
Monumental clunk
-
Adding to Odenkirk's cinematic slump
-
Some words with the class clowns of Superbad
|
- Unintentional laughs
- A step ahead of the rest
- Too many weird gimmicks
- Religious groups and the environment
- A rich kid on the road to comeuppance
- A shambling charmer
- Revisit one of the great films about the artistic process
- Seraphim in France
- Poignant enough
- An 88-minute flop
|
|
|
|