Based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz, director Terry George adapts the devastating story of a hit-and-run accident that takes the life of a young boy.
Connecticut locals Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) and his wife Grace (Jennifer Connelly) slip into a deep depression after their 10-year-old son is accidentally killed by Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) on his way from a baseball game with his own young son (Eddie Alderson).
A cavalcade of coincidences and a plodding pace surround the aftermath, during which time Dwight, an attorney, garages his Ford Explorer and contemplates turning himself in.
Ethan, in the meantime, hires Dwight’s law firm to follow up on the case that local police have all but dropped.
A long overdue showdown between the distraught father and his son’s killer set the climax, leaving the movie an overlong and threadbare exercise in stagnate motivations of should, would, can’t, and didn’t.
Rated R. 102 mins.
