Rabbit Holeh
Though the grieving-parent formula has been the recipe for a dozen depressing domestic dramas, Rabbit Hole eschews much of the hysterics in favor of a gentle and surprisingly funny look at how a couple might cope with the impossible burden of losing a child. Writer David Lindsay-Abaire’s dialogue is theatrically efficient but never stagy, and director John Cameron Mitchell observes the lead characters with no small amount of compassion. As for the stars, Aaron Eckhart does quietly wounded well, and Nicole Kidman’s prickly persona has never served her better. (available now)
Special Features: Audio commentary, deleted scenes
Somewhere
Holed up at the fabled Chateau Marmont, bad boy “it” actor Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) is as deep as a flat layer of fabric and skin. He’s so detached and so empty that he almost comes off as a demure middle finger to critics of director Sofia Coppola’s earlier work. That changes upon the arrival of his effervescent 11-year-old daughter, Cleo (played beautifully by Elle Fanning, whose screen time unfortunately starts too late and ends too early). At times, the film almost feels like a staring contest between audience and actor, but it ultimately works in harmony with Coppola’s previous films and as a standalone, as long as you give it the time it needs. (available now)
Special Features: Featurette
The Way Back
The partial debunking of its source material hasn’t prevented director Peter Weir from fully conveying the scope and severity of this escape-and-survive story, in which seven captives break out of a Siberian gulag circa 1940. Jim Sturgess (21) delivers a quietly capable performance as their unlikely leader, while Weir, in his first film since 2003, champions the human spirit without getting too sentimental for his own good. What’s more, he has an eye for a classic sense of adventure all but absent from modern filmmaking. (available now)
Special Features: Featurette
