How would you cope if you lost your only child?

Nicole Kidman is either a love her or loathe her sort of actress. When she scores big, she wins loads of awards, praise and a hefty next paycheck. But when she fails, she is butchered for her work, making us ask the question, "is she really worth spending $13 to see her non-moving face headline a movie." Her last three big movies, Australia, The Golden Compass and The Invasion didn't exactly set the box office on fire and really didn't do much for anybody. But it comes as a great surprise that Nicole is back to fine form as an actress as witnessed in previous efforts with her new emotionally charged film, "Rabbit Hole." Now lets just say Nicole definitely deserves the praise for this one, but let's not forget she is in excellent company. But wait, I am jumping too far ahead of myself here. Let's get to the review.

Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) are you typical American couple. Perfect house, strong income, but there is one thing they no longer have, their four year old son Daniel. Eight months ago, Daniel was taken from them, when a car hit their son outside of their house, which resulted in his death. What they have left are the memories of their son. His clothes, the room which he slept, his dog. But how do you stop the pain, and even after eight months, how do you move forward? It is here where we are introduced to the supporting players of the movie, and how they are involved with the therapy needed for this couple to try and move on. On one hand, they are trying group therapy for other families who have lost their children, where they meet Gaby (the incredible Sandrah Oh) and her husband who have been coming for over eight years. We see the support of Becca's mother in the form of Diane Weist who holds the same pain that her daughter does after losing her only son eleven years ago who helps her with her struggle. Feeling that none of these are helping with her cope, Becca has a chance encounter of the young man which struck her child resulting in his death and forms an unlikely friendship. From this encounter, it begins the motion of the help she needs to cope with her loss. I'm not saying anything more, but this movie is one emotionally charged film, headed by a great cast.

Kidman and Eckhart are at their best here. Overshadowed by Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight, Eckhart, delves deep into his emotions to show a man who is hurting, but unlike his wife wants people to know he is in pain and is emotionally crippled by the loss of his son. His interaction with Kidman is intense in many scenes and makes you forget that you are watching a movie and really feel that you are a voyeur looking in on a cracked relationship. Kidman has never been better. As Becca, she is so intense using every emotion in her acting handbook to show the pain and steps needed to start to move forward in life when a tragedy occurs. We learn it is hard, but every day a step needs to be taken in order to try and make each day bearable.

It is not only the two leads which surprise here, Diane Weist is amazing as always. As Becca's mother she shows after her own tragedy, that we never really get over a family member dying, but there are ways to make it through. Weist gives such an emotional portrayal of this, that we can sorta see into the future of how Becca will turn out. But I want to give a special mention to the young actor who plays Jason, the man who accidentally killed Becca and Howie's child. Miles Teller is an amazing young actor, who really needs to be watched. He is amazing, as a young man who has to live the rest of his life with the pain of what he did, and how he has impacted this family. His interactions with Kidman are fantastic and make the picture that much more interesting.

I have to give credit to filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell, the director of this piece. The way this movie is made is not what I expected. From the shorts, it looked like we were going to witness the death of a child followed by the life after it. But it is actually extremely well done, as we fast-forward eight months, and then are slowly given tidbits of what has happened in the past, making it a sort of piece together the puzzle movie. It makes us see the grievance process in a different light and I think in this case makes the movie work well.

Rabbit Hole is one emotionally charged movie, so make sure you take your tissues. It is not light, but gives us into a look at how a couple copes with the loss of their only child. I am not giving away why it is called Rabbit Hole, as this is one of the key scenes which makes the movie have a strong impact if you think about it. Kidman definitely deserves the praise she is given in this film, and really her supporting players should be up their with her. They make this film. Without the talent involved, this movie could have fallen flat in the soppy direct to DVD pile. But instead rises above the material and impacts the viewer. Rabbit Hole is a strong character driven piece that strongly needs to be seen. 8/10