Avoiding cliche in the Rabbit Hole

I nearly didn't go to see this Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart & Dianne Wiest vehicle thinking that an hour and half watching a couple grieving the loss of their four-year old son wasn't a cheery way to spend a Saturday afternoon. But I'm glad I did.

The film is based on the Broadway play by David Lyndsey-Abair for which Cynthia Nixon won Tony for her performance as mother Becka, the role Kidman takes in the film. You can see how it would work on stage but it does also translate well to the big screen too.

The linnear narrative examines how Becca and Howie (Eckhart) are processing their grief differently and the impact it has on those around them and on their own relationship. With such a subject matter it would be easy to drift into cliche and the temptations are there like bear traps but deftly side-stepped.

Of course there are moments of raw emotion which surprisingly creep up on you so that you can't help but be moved by but there is also humour.

Kidman, Eckhart and Wiest all put in convincing performances but I doubt they will win any awards.

Overall far more enjoyable that I thought it would be and well done. I give it 72%. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 86% based on 147 reviews with an average user rating of 3.6/5.

Metacritic gives it 76% based on 32 reviews with an average user rating of 7.4/10.