"People keep saying you need to find closure. But there is no closure; there's only acceptance and resignation."

These are the rambling thoughts of a grieving parent and his struggle to live through the untimely death of his child in the brilliant and moving adaptation of "Reservation Road", a 1998 novel by John Burnham Schwartz. The film centralizes on four primary characters and the tragedy that binds them, starring Academy Award winning actresses Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) and Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite), Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac) and Academy Award nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator).

The story begins simply enough: Ethan (Phoenix) and Grace Learner (Connelly) are driving their children home after a music recital when they make a brief stop at a service station. When their son Josh exits the car to let a jar full of fireflies loose, he becomes a victim of a hit-and-run accident, the impact killing him instantly. Dwight Arno (Ruffalo), a divorced attorney and the hit-and-run driver, is rushing his son Jake home to his erratic ex-wife Ruth (Sorvino), his cell phone the lapse in concentration that proves fatal. His fear and guilt propel him to leave the scene of the accident, his identity lost on any onlookers as Ethan hovers over Josh, crying out in agony.

Thoroughly distraught over their loss, the Learners want nothing more than the apprehension of the person responsible for Josh's death. Dissatisfied with the progress of local law enforcement, Ethan does his own detective work and decides to seek legal counsel and coincidentally becomes Dwight's client. When the two of them meet face-to-face, it becomes harder for Dwight to mask his guilty conscience as well as his crime and the Learners' marriage begins to crack under pressure from Grace's self-blame and Ethan's obsession with finding the perpetrator. All the combined anger, grief and guilt of each of the respective parties spur a climactic moment in which Ethan does what every grieving parent only wishes they could.

"Reservation Road" has a quiet intensity, replete with superb performances from all of its lead actors. I have been enthralled with Phoenix's phenomenal acting abilities ever since I saw him in "Gladiator" - his performance as Ethan Learner is every bit as intense and the anguish he depicts is heartbreaking and riveting. Connelly is an expert at emoting, Grace's pain so clearly expressed through her body, her face and her hypnotizing green eyes, perpetually saturated by tears. Her performance in "House of Sand and Fog" closely compares to this - Connelly is truly adept at playing tortured souls. Ruffalo is also excellent but I do think his abilities are trumped time and again by Phoenix; their scene together in the film's pivotal moment is sensational. Sorvino pops in and out but still manages to make a grand impression.

Author Schwartz and screenwriter/director Terry George collaborated on the screenplay for the film and the result is a deeply involved character study that allows its audience a peek at the raw wounds of sorrow beneath the bandage of adversity.

Bottom line: One of the better dramas out there, "Reservation Road" will resonate long after you've watched it, its story and performances wrenchingly exquisite.

Reservation Road

This DVD is defective. It's counter is off......it starts at the end of the movie and it takes forever to rewind to get to the beginning of the movie......if you go even a second to far it goes back to the end. I have never had this happen so I didn't get a refund as I had thrown out the receipt and package. I then went to Blockbuster and bought this movie and the exact same thing happened. Defective. Once you do get it to the start the movie itself is excellent a 4 out of 5 stars.....but your much better off renting this one than buying it.

I couldn't wait for this film to end but let out a cry of injustice for myself at the upbrupt ending which left the viewer ( me, my partner decided to nap instead of finishing this dreadful film )intentionally without resolve. Never having read the book I knew from the get-go this was adapted from a novel as the vibe of storybook New England setting is the usual set up before the "tragedy" Unfortunately I dont think this mirrors any scenarion from real life. If it does then I can't blame Mark Ruffalo for running from the scene of the "crime" - which isn't a crime , its an accident, unless of course you leave the scene which he does. He's a lawyer btw, I guess he knows what the law is permiited to do to perpetrators of "accidents", especially a man , a loser who is already disenfranshised by society because he's a divorced dad hanging on to dignity by his fingernails. The reaction of the victims family - specifically the dad, is not realistic- SPOILER - ok, so the kid with the fireflies is playing on the side of a busy road at night and happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - and in a flash bingo , he's gone, dead in a heap. Since the driver panicked and didn't "own up", he's now being pursued as "that murderer is still out there" Parents of children taken by senseless carelessness have a right to feel rage, but to the point of buying a gun and attemting vigilante justice?, Kidnapping and attempted murder? I dont think so. If this EVER happened in real life you'd be reading it all over the newspapers and Mark Ruffalos character would never see prison time. the whole tone of this movie was unrealistic, cliche and self righteous.The acting and dialogue I have no problem with. When are viewers going to stop eating up this stuff being served to them as entertainment?- surely this is a film that "makes one think", but it makes me think- why would anyone think this story has value? Even the redemtion aspect is a bit cloudy and unrefined. Save your time and money, do yourself a favor and trust me .

I believe this movie will make any parent cringe. A young boy is killed in a hit and run accident and it shows how the parents deal with the loss and what the man who hits the child goes through.

While the plot at first reminded me of a lifetime movie the actors and actresses made all the difference in this movie. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo give stand out performances in this movie. For me they presented themselves like I have never seen them before. The emotion Joaquin gave in his performance was unbelivable. Even the two child stars of the film gave great performances and added to the chemistry of the film.

Great movie with wonderful performances!

As a father I found this movie almost difficult to watch at times due to its honest and raw portrayal of the loss of a child. Mark Ruffalo turns in a truly incrdible performance I thought and shows a whole new side of his acting that we haven't see in his other performances. The rest of the cast I wasn't as impressed with. Jennifer Connelly was either not given any direction or didn't have enough material to work with other than to look sad. Joaquin Phoenix I've enjoyed in his other roles but I didn't find him very convincing in this film. His dialogue and performance felt forced and unnatural.