Traídos pelo Destino

I don't have children and am therefore not in a position to ever lose one at a young age. This film, however, has brought me about as close to the living hell of what that awful experience would be like as a person can be without the actual first hand experience of living it. This is an excellent film; written well, filmed well, directed well, and with actors as good as you'll ever see in anything. And it will never get the respect it deserves because it eschews the "Hollywood" proforma cadence of either a tiding happy ending or complete descent into carnal madness. Instead, it goes to where things are real and much more difficult to take in.

The main story revolves around two families connected by the same tragedy. Specifically, two fathers played by Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. They are quite literally unbelievable; two great actors at their greatest. Along with Jennifer Connelly, these three take you to a shattered place that is hard to look at and you never want to go to for yourself. It is a dark place where there are no winners and seemingly no hope. It is a place that you can only hope to survive. And if you are a survivor, you will never be the same or as good as you were before. Your marriage will not be the one you had before. Your relationship with your children will never be the same. All that being said, this is not a hopeless story. It is just a difficult one to watch because anyone can identify with it at a human level.

More than the unfolding of this story there is an unsettling tightening of the narrative as this plot develops. Unexpected cross currents in the lives of its antagonists are revealed bringing this story of grief and loss to a boiling point. The victim's father and the perpetrator, unbelievably, have overlaps in their everyday lives; separate and apart from the one that will link them together forever. Their climactic encounter will leave you shaken.

I knew nothing about this film when I watched it a couple of years ago. Literally, nothing. I watched it for two reasons; Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix. I was expecting a lot but I got so much more. I tend to go into a lot of detail when writing about a film as good as this one. The 1000 word limit that IMDb allows would never be enough to cover the multi amazing facets of this work. And doing so would require going more into the plot than I think would be useful for, or do justice to, this sorrowful gem. Watch it for yourself. It needs no explanation from me or anyone else. It speaks quite well for itself.

Astounding. Impeccably crafted drama. The story is sad and very serious, but this is one of the most perfect examples of the art of simple dramatic film-making that exists. This is film storytelling at its pinnacle. On a scale of four stars, this is a five star movie. It is mature, thoughtful and thought-provoking.

This is a story of regular people (regular, middle class white people, that is) who experience a personal tragedy. How do they each handle the tragedy? What do they become in its wake?

This is the role of a lifetime for Mark Ruffalo, and he shows us what dramatic acting is at its finest. The rest of the cast is superb, too- from the other leads to the bit players. Even the kid actors are incredibly good here. Joaquin Phoenix also gives a performance of a lifetime, Jennifer Connelly is superb, Elle Fanning is haunting. Every actor, down to the minor parts, does a fantastic job – which lets you know the director made this possible. So GREAT directing!

This movie also has a perfect script. It is a classic literary work, with all the right elements of cohesive story with bigger thoughts and themes, multidimensional characters with moral shading and growth, emotional fullness. The story and characters are deep, rich, fully realized. This must have been written by an English major or serious playwright, since it has all the elements of good dramatic writing.

The direction is also perfect and unobtrusive. This movie is directed so flawlessly that the viewer never notices a shot; it is so perfect that there is only this on-screen reality, no presence whatever of a camera or even of a movie. This directing was there to give the actors what they needed to fully realize their characters.

The editing is utterly astoundingly perfect. Again, this matches the simplicity and unobtrusiveness of the directing. The cinematography is simple and perfect, appears to be shot on high quality video. The music is also perfectly placed and matched to this film. This movie is so good that I imagine they had incredible gaffers and drivers and caterers.

We, the viewers, were thoroughly engrossed in the places and the people. The audience in the movie theater was silent, absolutely silent, from the start to finish of this movie. This is a story we will think about for days and weeks to come.

The only slight bad thing about this movie is the title. I had no idea what it was supposed to be about when I was going to see it. From the word "reservation," I thought maybe it was about an Indian reservation. The promo photos make it look like some sort of adventure flick. I think the name and the ads might keep people from seeing it, and for sure will confuse them about what it is.

I guess theis movie will be depending on word of mouth, so I am happy to say here – Go see it.

The issues dealt with in this movie are real, and I can see many people who will be able to draw from their own experiences when watching this film. You may wonder sometimes if an accident happens, how long can you hold a person accountable for? Jennifer Connelly is again a mesmerizing presence on the silver screen. I watched tonight's screening of Reservation Road in Sudbury at our Cinefest festival expecting it to tug an emotional chord. I have to say, it was touching to see all the parents in the audience shedding a tear when the credits rolled. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo made a somewhat formulaic script feel fresh and real.

This is not only a riveting film that deals with courage and lack of it. This is a devastatingly eviscerating moral parable about a victim's need for closure and a perpetrator's battle with his guilt. Only a very few movies have dealt with the struggle between a man's tortured conscience and his denial on one side and mourning and letting go on the other. One story line brings Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment to mind while the other one evokes the story line of Brad Pitt's character in Babel.

Jennifer Connelly's depiction of a mother suffering an unbearable loss is so heartbreaking it cuts right through you with its fidelity to genuine real life pain. Joaquin Phoenix portrays desperation with such force you understand and sympathize with his character and what he's going through. The intensity and emotional impact of this movie is as great as The House of Sand and Fog, The Shawshank Redemption and Five Easy Pieces. The ending holds a thought-provoking revelation for the main character that reads like an epiphany as he understands what his only rescue is from the crushing injustice bearing down on him.

Reservation Road deserves to be considered a classic in retrospect since it has that unique power to hold you in its grip and not letting go until the credits roll. Every nuance in the narration achieves a resonance of truth and the viewers will be thinking for a long time about its implications on their lives. Ultimately it's a story about love and how the loss of what we treasure most changes our lives forever, how our undying love in the time of death makes us suffer and seek revenge and retribution but in the end prevail it all.

I knew nothing about the plot when I rented this film. With Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Connelly and Mark Ruffalo starring in it, I figured it would be, at the very least, good, and it was. From the beginning scenes, a palpable tension is created; you just know something awful is about to happen despite two normal family outings being the subject matter. From then on, the plot reels out in an arc rife with too many coincidences, but the direction was able to pull it off without making me want to groan. There are some emotional scenes that would have played a little better had they been more subtle. The police officer and Mark Ruffalo were flawless. The children were outstanding. I'm not sure if it was Joaquin's character, the script, the direction or what, but he did not keep me riveted as he usually does; a bit over-acted perhaps. Jennifer delivered a couple of lines that didn't ring true--could have been an editing problem. The obsession of anger/justice seems a bit premature. It would have been better to see a progression. Despite my criticisms, I found enough mastery and depth of character to recommend it and give it a 7. I found myself worrying that the ending would ruin the film but it was faultless and convincing.