Following the death of their young son in a road traffic accident, Becca and Howie Corbett (Kidman and Eckhart) are suffering through the aftermath of the worst trauma of their lives.
Howie, at least has the distraction of work but still spends an unhealthy amount of time watching old home videos of the family from before the calamity. Becca is, if anything, coping with the disaster even more badly. Not only is she on the verge of falling out with her annoying but grief-stricken mother (Wiest), who is also grieving from the death of her adult son, but she has to face the awkward situation that her younger sister (Blanchard) is now pregnant herself.
Soon Howie is spending too much time with a woman he has met at a counselling class. Becca, more bizarrely, has formed an unlikely friendship with the driver who caused her sons death.
Theres no getting away from it. Rabbit Hole is a tough sell. Although, in theory, the perfect audience for the film would in fact be anyone unlucky to enough to be going through what Kidman and Eckharts couple have experienced themselves, in reality these are the very last people likely to want to go and see it. But its hardly an easy ride for anyone else either. The films tagline is The Only Way Out Is Through. For many people, this could be amended to The Only Way is to Rent Gnomeo and Juliet instead. And who can blame them?
Its a shame though as this is a lovingly made and beautifully acted film. Kidman delivers one of her strongest performances (no mean feat she even comes close to surpassing BMX Bandits), Eckhart too is great and director (and ex-actor) Mitchell deftly steers the film away from the potentially obvious clichés.
Overall Verdict: A class act for everyone involved and despite the sombre subject matter, easier viewing than it sounds.
Reviewer: Chris Hallam