Rabbit Hole Review- Page 2

[jsrocks]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 8:21pm

Oh yeah I'm a John Slattery fan!! I've been one forever. My mom got me tickets to this show just so I could see him on the stage!! It's going to be so surreal for me. I can't wait!!! He is an amazing actor. :)

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 9:01pm

I cannot fully share in the rapture.

To me, it's a solid movie of the week, with a dash of spice added (the loquacious Tyne character). Since I'm predisposed to like Lifetime MOWS, I was engaged, fully, and you can't help but be moved by the penultimate scene. But to me, it peaks early; its best scene is halfway through the first act, the edgy, harrowing birthday party (no accident that it introduces the Daly mother), and nothing afterwards -- to me -- comes close to feeling as theatrical or dramatizes such contradictory emotions.

Here people may strongly disagree: The Nixon/Slattery married couple are rendered by the playwright in very narrow terms -- they have no distinctive interests, quirks, traits of any kind beyond being defined by grief. You wait to learn something more about Cynthia Nixon's character, in vain. Even more about the specific nature of her relationship with her son. Yet it's presented very generically -- TV shorthand, all about a dog, predictable children's books, sci-fi sheets. We aren't afforded telling FRESH specifics, except in the HGTV properties. Despite the use of video with the child's voice, he's a cypher. No memories are discussed which would help us really SEE the family.

Nixon's a shell of a grieving mother, nothing more and to be totally fair, nothing less. I know -- ah, that's the idea! She's on autopilot. But surely then we deserve revelations. I wanted to see something emerge besides the expected show of overdue emotion (which to be fair, is a beautifully played catharsis.) Shouldn't we see something flower later in the play, see some glimmer of the woman underneath. Indeed, at least see more telling indication of the MOTHER underneath? I waited for something more theater-worthy ... some poetry maybe? Yes, the boy's story provides the play with an image, a metaphor. But it feels very tacked on, not organic to this family crisis.

It's a stage-worthy subject, and deserving of our attn. And yes, there are honestly-wrung tears in the house; who can argue that they are earned in such a devastating crisis? I am not a major fan of Mr. Abbaire's other work (I'm tired of this new arch flavor of absurdism). But when he abandons it his ... well, I was startled at how dull his dialogue is when he's not FUDDYing us. At least three times people say "I wish I could be there for you..." a hoary, empty cliche you'd hear in daytime TV.

The last scene simply felt inadequate and unsatisfying to me, as he wraps it all up in a messy bow. Maybe I'm wrong, but I smelled multiple rewrites, with diminishing returns as he tried to please too many people. It's hard to feel negativity toward such a well-meaning drama, and nowadays, the kichen-sink-ishness is tantamount to daring. But again, take out a few words, and it would land comfortably on Hallmark. Not a bad thing, but hardly worthy of the massive production the script has been afforded -- a spinning set on par with Light in the Piazza. I think the investment in the set spells a fundamental insecurity with the play. It's overdesigned to pin down the play's reality. I would've been happier with more theatricality, in the language and imagery used to define character, not a working sink.

Updated On: 2/27/06 at 09:01 PM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 10:00pm

I agree with your point of view Auggie.

[isntitromantic]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 4:30pm

Really Rabbit Hole was just an overblown bad tv movie that really strained belief. That bit where Becca taped over the dead kid was ridiculous. Don't videotapes have tabs on them so they can't be recorded over? Such an upscale house -- wouldn't these people have transferred there tapes over to DVD? And when you put a dog out, isn't it best to tie it up if your property isn't fenced in? A real waste of $90 bucks and a shame because the premise is good. For a really excellent drama, rent License to Kill. The ever-fabulous Penny Fuller stars as the grief stricken mother of a teenager killed by a drunk driver.

Posted: 3/2/06 at 10:39pm

I also enjoy John Slattery.
Did you know his son is the voice on the video?
It's in small print in the program.
Can you tell me the tv show he was in where he played a union representative?
I am a video fantatic...have NEVER broken a tab on a video to save precious tapes...though I should.
And they live in a large home in Larchmont...not unusual to let a dog out by himself.

[jsrocks]

Posted: 3/3/06 at 11:54am

Yeah I knew his son's voice is on the video. That's awesome! John played a union representative on the ABC show, "Homefront."

Updated On: 3/3/06 at 11:54 AM

Posted: 3/3/06 at 4:29pm

Thank you!! He was in Homefront. Enjoyed that program.

[jsrocks]

Posted: 3/3/06 at 5:33pm

Oh yeah, no problem!