Review: Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole takes its title from a graphic novel about alternate realities written by one of the film's characters. The novel is pretty good — too bad director John Cameron Mitchell didn't adapt it instead of David Lindsay-Abaire's lugubrious play. The teenage graphic-novelist is Jason (Miles Teller), who's still feeling guilty about his involvement in a tragic loss suffered by the Corbetts, Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart). They're feeling guilty too, so they attend a kind of 12-step program for those in the same situation — which allows Mitchell and Lindsay-Abaire to make fun of mawkish grieving while at the same time indulging in it. Things take a promising turn when Becca stalks and finally makes contact with Jason, but the film doesn't have the imagination or daring to do much with the relationship. Also breaking from the mold is Dianne Wiest as Becca's dim but dogged mother. Her performance suggests that in a parallel universe this might be a much better movie.