Movie Review: Reservation Road

Reservation Road
Directed by Terry George
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly
Rated R


I just feel lost, Frankie. You know? I just, um... I just feel lost. -- Kathy from House of Sand and Fog

Sometimes things happen that are out of your control and those are the times you have to stand up and be a man. -- Dwight Arno from Reservation Road

Prolonged Reckonings (NOTE: Spoilers!!!)

One evening, in a horrific second, the lives of the Learner family are changed forever. Their son, Josh Learner (Sean Curley), is killed by a hit and run driver outside a gas station on Reservation Road. The family has just come from a music recital where Josh has played the cello beautifully -- an incredibly gifted musician. They stop at a gas station. While his parents, Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) and Grace (Jennifer Connelly) and his sister Emma (Elle Fanning) go inside the station, he remains outside to release fireflies from a jar. Meanwhile, Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) and his son, Lucas (Eddie Alderson) are coming home from a Boston Red Sox game. They had a great day at the game. Lucas is exhausted from the excitement of the game. Dwight is cruising along; and he is distracted by his cell phone. His son is sleeping on the passenger side. In a matter of seconds, he swerves to avoid another car, but in doing so he hits Josh. Dwight knows he has hit and possibly killed the boy, but he panics and keeps driving. The Learner family has lost their son. Ethan has witnessed the accident, but all he knows is that a black SUV is responsible for taking his son away from him. Dwight tells Lucas that they hit a log. Each father will deal with this in his own way...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!