Reservation Road

Despite a prestigious literary pedigree (based on John Burnham Schwartz's acclaimed novel), a talented director (Hotel Rwanda's Terry George), and a strong cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, and Jennifer Connelly, this tale of a father obsessed with tracking down the hit-and-run driver who killed his son still feels like a cable TV tearjerker. Reservation Road deals with powerful personal issues—grief over the loss of a child, and the guilt that tortures a basically good man who knows he's done something terribly wrong—that play out following the early plot-starting incident in which Ethan Learner (Phoenix) and his wife Grace's (Connelly) musical prodigy son Josh is struck and killed by SUV driver Dwight Arno (Ruffalo), a divorced dad bringing his own son back from a baseball game. When the police investigation proves unsuccessful, the distraught Ethan devotes himself to the case, and—in a move that strains credulity—hires attorney Arno to help out. Dwight is understandably nervous in his client's presence, which ultimately arouses Ethan's suspicion. Reservation Road is undoubtedly sincere, but it rarely achieves the visceral force that one might reasonably expect from such a dramatically powerful story. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include a 15-minute “Looking Back on Reservation Road” behind-the-scenes featurette, eight minutes of deleted scenes, an episode of the TV show Friday Night Lights, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)