Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole - or 'How I learned to stop worrying and love Nicole Kidman'

Since Moulin Rouge, Nicole Kidman has done nothing that I liked except that time she went to a premier with a heck of a lot of powder over her face. While it was hilarious, it was also incredibly awkward - much like The Stepford Wives. So when I saw she was in a movie adaptation of the play Rabbit Hole, I immediately clenched.

Kidman doesn't handle fluff films very well, her whispery delivery and statuesque frame don't lend themselves to slapstick, and her forehead's range of motion restricts reaction-comedy. I refer you to the beginning third of Australia where Kidman played some kind of hysterical satire of her own style of acting. Practically unwatchable.

Fast-forward to 2011, where John Cameron Mitchell, director of cult classics such as Shortbus and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Mitchell playing the titular character), is able to squeeze an incredibly moving and charming performance from what many thought to be an orange with no juice left.*

I'm getting ahead of myself so I'll give a brief summation. Life for Becca (Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) is turned upside-down after an accident robs them of their son. Based on the play by the same name, and expanded for the screen by the play's author David Lindsay-Abaire, Rabbit Hole is a dark exploration of a couple dealing with grief as individuals and as a couple. Having never seen the play I can't comment on the film in terms of adaptation, however as I understand it - the play was obviously expanded to include other characters, like those in the group therapy scenes.

As mentioned before, Mitchell has directed two films with strong cult followings, however this film is a sharp dislocation from his previous work. There's directorial maturity to the film, maybe it's all the muted tones of the suburban furniture, maybe it's the twitch of movement in Kidman's brow,** I can't say for sure, but the film is fantastic.

Eckhart, who has done theatre before, really shines as tortured and breaking under the pressure to appear strong, while Kidman plays everything with a neat subtlety. The script is littered with sass and wit, which makes you want to laugh one minute, and bawl your face off the next. The entire cast is fantastic, including Dianne Wiest as Becca's mother, Nat, and Miles Teller as Jason.

What I don't understand is, Kidman gives a performance far superior to the one she gave in The Hours, far superior to ANYTHING to do with Black Swan*** so why Portman is stealing all the press, I'll never understand. This is one of those films that could so easily fly under the radar. Unlike Revolutionary Road, this doesn't have the quirk of two actors reuniting for the first time since Kate Winslet hogged a door. Also unlike Revolutionary Road, this story is so much richer, with a depth of character and story that is just so fulfilling. I would love to hear from someone if they didn't enjoy this film, because I think it would be difficult to find. Also I like telling people they're wrong.****

*I'll take subtle redhead jokes for 200, Alex
** While I haven't researched it, I'm quite sure this was a result of similar technology used in Tron to make Jeff Bridges look younger.
***Whenever I write the title of that film I vomit acid and a ridiculously terrible script all over the desk, these are just the sacrifices I make for my art.
**** BLACK SWAN FANS, I'M TALKING TO YOU. Now excuse me while I clean up all this acid.

Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine - or 'Thank goodness I'm going to die alone'.

I'm always prepared to enjoy an indie film that looks completely depressing or soul destroying. In fact, the more outrageously depressing a film, the more likely I am to really enjoy it. Which is why I was really looking forward to watching Blue Valentine, directed by Derek Cianfrance and starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. Well, I was looking forward to it because it looked depressing but also because I heard rumors you got to see Ryan Gosling's bum.

The film centers on Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams) at two points in their life. First, we meet the two and their adorable daughter, Frankie, at their home. Married, their lives seem to have run to a point where they seem to have lost all feelings for each other. This storyline of a loveless marriage is intercut with memory-like scenes of the two before they had met, idealistic about love and marriage, leading to their inevitable meeting.

At a heavy 112 minutes, Blue Valentine is not without its problems, which I think stem from Cianfrance's history as a documentary filmmaker. Writing and directing the film, Cianfrance's influence can be traced to the hyperrealism of the script. Arguments in the film seem to run through similar patterns - Dean and Cindy talk over each other, repeat each other, get distressed and stutter. At times it almost feels like there was no script, and the two are just so in character that they're riffing off of each other. It's fascinating to watch in terms of performance, and it certainly adds to several quite confronting scenes, however I feel like there was a poignancy that was lost in the dialogue. While a lot was said in the film, there isn't actually a lot of depth to it. Instead, Cianfrance seems to want his viewers to infer what he is trying to say, to watch the gradual decline of love through gesture and intricate reactions.

Both Gosling and Williams are wonderful to watch, and they truly do a good job of what couldn't be an easy character to play, I just feel like the format of the script was a major downfall in the film. That being said, I do believe this is a very new take on the love story genre, and the marketing of the film as 'a love story' is indeed very clever.

While I didn't mind the film, I think Cianfrance will go on to do bigger and better things.