Rosenbaum and "Reservation Road"

I should start this by saying something I have probably said more than a few times on this blog - I'm a big fan of Jonathan Rosenbaum (head film critic at the Chicago Reader). So when he made Terry George's Reservation Road (a film I wanted to see when I first heard about it) his critic's choice of the week, despite the fact that the film had pretty much been universally panned, my interest was peaked.

Before the almost unanimous bad reviews, it seemed like Reservation Road was a film made for me. It starred two of my favorite american actors, Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix, and was billed as a melodrama, my favorite film genre (although the definition of melodrama as it relates to a concise genre is somewhat complicated). Not only that, it was a melodrama where the protagonists were men, not something we see much of - although Susanne Bier did a great job with After the Wedding.

But with Jonathan's conditional recommendation i was excited to give it a shot. The opening sequence was great, it is rare that I almost cry at the beginning of a film, especially when you know ahead of time what the tear-inducing event is and that it comes at the beginning. but in the opening moments of Reservation Road I caught myself tearing up, and with this, Iwas ready to delve further into the story of two families and the differing effects that a tragic hit and run have on them. However, as the film went on I found myself further and further outside of any real connection with the story and the characters. Dramatic character changes started happening off screen and I was left to rely on dialogue to understand that Phoenix's character had started to abandon his family and that in turn Ruffalo's character had started to embrace his.

Not that dialogue is bad, but when it comes to people and changes in relationship, it is almost always better to show than to tell. That being said, I still found myself somewhat emotionally tied to the actions of the characters, but seemingly in a cheap way - in a way that wasn't earned through storytelling but was gained through manipulation (which when done well, like lars von trier for example, can be an accomplishment in and of itself - that was not the case here).

Overall, I can understand where Rosenbaum is coming from and his assessment isn't off by any means - what actually becomes apparent is that in his recommendation he takes the brave stance to claim his enjoyment was conditional to his view of the characters. I don't think I fully realized this until after I had seen Reservation Road, and with it I just respect Rosenbaum even more.

Today too many reviews claim, without any room for personal taste, to be absolutely correct - and in many ways, all films are dependent on when we see them, who we see them with and how we are feeling on that day in question. However, I have always championed that when it comes to film, it is possible to look beyond any personal fog and critique a work and hopefully in the case of most critics, this is what happens.

I have to say though, it's just a nice change of pace for someone to admit that their opinion of a film didn't necessarily have to do with a given rubric and that experience is predicated on experience - I think if we all thought about that a bit more, people would make smarter choices when going to the cinema. and maybe we would have better standard fare at the multiplex.