Reservation Road
List Price:
Our Price: $1.97
You Save: $8.01 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.38 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Jennifer Connelly, Joaquin PhoenixBrand: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
Published: 2008-04-01
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-08
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Reservation Road
DVD Review: A sadly mishandled, missed opportunity...
Summary: 3 Stars
Having read John Burnham Schwartz's novel (I gave the novel 5 stars in my review) and being huge fans of Phoenix and Ruffalo (I tend to enjoy Connelly as well) I was really excited about this movie. In fact, generally at the beginning of every year I pick a film that I'm most excited about, and I rally behind it until Oscar comes. Some years I go well, others I do not. Last year I stood firmly behind `Reservation Road', utterly convinced that it was going to be the best movie of the year.
I had an off year.
There are some significant changes from the novel here, while the initial story does stay the same, but it is not the changes but the delivery that really ruins the film for me. Director Terry George doesn't know how to develop this film properly, at all.
Where was Todd Field when you needed him?
Ethan Learner is a college professor who loves his wife and his two children very much. Dwight Arno is a divorced lawyer trying desperately to connect with his son despite his ex-wife's opposition. One fateful evening Dwight makes a fatal mistake and kills Ethan's young son. Instead of owning up to it he panics and drives off, covering over the evidence and continuing as if nothing happened. Ethan is ravaged with anger as he sets out to find the person responsible for his son's death, causing strains in his marriage. Dwight is racked with guilt but he cannot seem to come to terms with what needs to be done. Things are only made worse when Ethan hires Dwight as his lawyer and urges him to help track down the killer.
I'm telling you, the novel is a marvelous character study and truly gets under the skin of Ethan, Grace (his wife) and Dwight beautifully.
The problem with `Reservation Road' is that it doesn't take the time to fully flesh out these characters. It feels rather hurried to me. Mark Ruffalo does all he can to convey his characters guilt but it never feels as genuine as it should. The film also feels very uninterested in Grace, which is sad since it was her character that seemed to devour the novel. She is obviously not the star of the show (this is more about the way that men react to these situations) but in the novel it was her sections that brought a new light to the proceedings. Here she is nothing more than window dressing. Phoenix, who I consider one of our finer actors, has never been worse. I thought that his performance was weak and amateurish. I don't think he fully understood the character. He's said that he related more to Dwight, and so maybe he should have swapped roles with Ruffalo.
I was very disappointed in the way the film handled Ethan and Grace's relationship. Every time they shared the screen they were having the same conversation, which bogged the film down and made it feel redundant. Phoenix's groveling never felt genuine, it always felt forced and uncomfortable. Connelly tried to save her scenes, but Phoenix was such a bore that I found my interest waning considerably. I understand that this is a tragic situation, and really, there is no getting over that, but this is a movie and movie's need to be able to portray things in an engaging manor. Repeating the same sequence of events, no matter how realistic it may be, is not engaging.
I will say that the ending was a plus for me, the fact that they kept the novel's ending and the final frame is quite haunting, but it is one of the films sole highlights.
The film is not bad, it just isn't good either. It's right there in the middle. It's average at best, which is sad because it could have, and should have been phenomenal. Ruffalo is decent, to a degree and Connelly is actually very effective in the few scenes where she is allowed to shine. I just think that Terry George botched this one big time, taking what could have been a very poignant and emotional look at family and giving it more of a `made for television' feel, muddling it down with an air of stiffness and pulling away from it's power by watering down the emotion.
I'd give it a C-, maybe a C.
Go watch `In the Bedroom'. Now that is how you do a tense family drama.
Description of Reservation Road
Academy AwardŽ nominee Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo and Academy AwardŽ winners Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino deliver riveting performances in the gripping thriller Reservation Road. A powerful human story of anger, revenge and great courage, this film takes you on an intense journey that follows two fathers as their families and lives converge after the events of one fateful night. "Suspenseful, emotional and completely engrossing" (Pete Hammond, Maxim), Reservation Road is "a deft, satisfying thriller" (Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly).Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Breach (Widescreen Edition)NBC Universal; Release date: 2007-06-12; DVD
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
ProofBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2006-02-14; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Atonement (Widescreen Edition)Universal Studios; Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $2.91
Price in other shops:
Little ChildrenNEW Line Home Video; Release date: 2007-05-01; Published: 2007-05-01; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
RenditionWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-02-19; Published: 2008-02-01; DVD
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
In the Valley of ElahWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Waking the DeadPMV; Release date: 2002-11-05; DVD
Best price: $2.85
Price in other shops:
We Own the NightSony; Release date: 2008-02-12; DVD
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
Two LoversMagnolia Pictures; Release date: 2009-06-30; DVD
Best price: $2.57
Price in other shops:
Inventing the AbbottsTYLER,LIV; Release date: 2001-03-13; DVD
Best price: $3.96
Price in other shops: