Reservation Road (2007)

A wrenching drama based on the novel by John Burhnam Schwartz, RESERVATION ROAD is the story of two men whose lives are torn apart by a tragic accident. Ethan Learner (Joaquin Phoenix) and his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly) are consumed with grief after their son Josh (Sean Curley) is struck by a hit and run driver. The man behind the wheel was Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo), a divorcee who was racing to get his own son back in time in accordance with a custody agreement. A lawyer himself, Dwight is all too familiar with the consequences of his actions. Unsure of what to do, he panics, then conceals his car in his gar...
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age. Lucky for him, the police can't find any leads, and the case quickly turns cold. Time passes, and Emma wants her family to heal and get on with their lives, but Ethan has become consumed with finding his son's killer. In a bizarre coincidence, he shows up at Dwight's office seeking legal advice about how to catch and prosecute the perpetrator. The guilt is eating away at Dwight, and he makes a plan to turn himself in, but not before he has a proper goodbye with his own son. When an image suddenly jars Ethan's memory of the accident, he begins to piece things together, causing him to quickly seek his retaliation, which results in a gripping and emotional stand-off.

Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly are excellent as the grieving parents, both offering a painfully realistic portrait of grief. Mark Ruffalo is equally impressive as the tormented and conflicted Dwight. While the film works nicely as both thriller and family drama, it at times has an emotional intensity that can be almost difficult to watch. Yet, all tear-jerking elements aside, director Terry George has crafted a smart and complex tale of loss, and the long, difficult road to healing.
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The lingering weight of tragedy threatens to pull two men under following a harrowing hit-and-run accident in a quiet revenge drama directed by Terry George and starting Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix. When his son is killed in an unsolved hit-and-run accident, a grieving father (Phoenix) spends his waking hours seeking vengeance against the man (Ruffalo) who perpetrated the deadly crime. It was a warm September evening when college professor Ethan Learner (Phoenix), his wife, Grace (Jennifer Connelly), and their daughter, Emma (Elle Fanning), went to see Emma's ten-year-old brother, Josh (Sean Curley), play ce...
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llo at a recital. As usual, Josh's performance is superb and the rest of his family wells up with pride. Later, a chance stop at a gas station on Reservation Road results in a tragedy that will leave the surviving members of the family forever broken. On that same evening, hours earlier, law associate Dwight Arno (Ruffalo) takes his 11-year-old son, Lucas (Eddie Alderson), to see a Red Sox game. The loving father cherishes the time spent with his young son, and the pair hope to watch their favorite team pave a road to the World Series. When the game ends, Dwight prepares to drop Lucas off with his mother, Ruth (Mira Sorvino) -- who is also Dwight's ex-wife. On the way home, Dwight and Lucas stop at a gas station on Reservation Road. There, the accident happens in a flash -- so fast that Lucas never even realized what his father had done. But this crime wasn't without a witness, because Ethan watched every horrifying second of the tragedy unfold with his own eyes. As the police are called and the investigation ensues, everyone involved responds to the incident in their own ways, and two grief-stricken fathers are faced with making the hardest decisions of their lives.
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A tale of anger, revenge, and great courage, the film follows two fathers as their families and lives converge. On a warm September evening, college professor Ethan Learner, his wife Grace, and their daughter Emma are attending a recital. Their 10-year-old son Josh is playing cello--beautifully, as usual. His younger sister looks up to him, and his parents are proud of their son. On the way home, they all stop at a gas station on Reservation Road. There, in one terrible instant, he is taken from them forever. On a warm September evening, law associate Dwight Arno and his 11-year-old son Lucas are attending a bas...
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eball game. Their favorite team, the Red Sox, is playing--and, hopefully, heading for the World Series. Dwight cherishes his time spent with Lucas. Driving his son back to his ex-wife, Lucas' mother Ruth Wheldon, Dwight heads towards his fateful encounter at Reservation Road. The accident happens so fast that Lucas is all but unaware, while Ethan--the only witness--is all too aware, as a panicked Dwight speeds away. The police are called, and an investigation begins. Haunted by the tragedy, both fathers react in unexpected ways, as do Grace and Emma. As a reckoning looms, the two fathers are forced to make the hardest choices of their lives.
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Het verhaal over Ethan Learner en Dwight Arno, twee vaders die aan het hoofd staan van families die met elkaar verbonden zijn door het tragische sterfgeval van de zoon van één van hen. De verwerking door beide families verloopt niet bepaald soepel en brengt allerlei emotionele confrontaties met zich mee.

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