Reservation RoadMovie Reviews

"Reservation Road" poster art.

Gifts + Promos

The Vow Free Gift

Buy tickets & receive a FREE 3-Month Love Forecast from Astrology.com!

Fandango Bucks

Send your sweetheart the gift of movies this Valentine’s Day!

Journey Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Nicaragua!

Interactive Oscar Ballot

Who's taking home the Oscar? Cast your vote & challenge your friends on Facebook!

Need Help?
So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 46 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    There's a kind of tough beauty to this deft, satisfying thriller. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Tries rather feebly to examine complex questions of morality. It does a better job of capturing a sense of shattering grief, but it gets too caught up in plot contrivances and coincidences to be believable. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    Ruffalo is so squirrelly in the role that he seems like a dead giveaway from the start. You know exactly where the story is going, and, dang, that's exactly where it goes. Read full review

  • 50
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    Despite some solid acting, the film is lacking in surprises. For all the suffering that these characters endure, there's very little payoff. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times |

    Neither involving as a study in grief nor compelling as a thriller about conscience, the cat-and-mouse tragedy Reservation Road is a misery windup so schematic and obvious it reduces its crisis-stricken characters to little more than emotional bumper cars. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    A dramatic situation that should be wrenching is mostly tedious in Reservation Road. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Paints itself into a corner, creating a static situation in which everyone is either stymied or wracked by indecision, leaving the movie free for its two male leads to wallow in self-pity, remorse and bad behavior. Read full review

  • 20
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    A deadly earnest and deadly dull psychological thriller. Read full review

  • 20
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    This is one of those sadistic exercises that puts its characters through the wringer without saying anything true or meaningful. Read full review

View more reviews for Reservation Road on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Heartbreaking melodrama is too heavy for kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this serious melodrama centers on the aftermath of a hit-and-run accident that kills a 10-year-old boy. His parents grieve in a realistic, disturbing-to-watch manner, and the child's lifeless body is shown on the road at least three times. The man responsible for the accident also grieves -- at some points by drinking heavily -- as he comes to grips with what he has done. There's also a confrontation at gunpoint between the two protagonists. With such upsetting themes (as well as strong language, including "f--k"), the film is iffy for kids and young teens.
  • Families can talk about how the movie portrays the two father characters. Dwight seems like a great dad, but he's only recently gotten overnight visits with his son, and he doesn't turn himself into the police. Ethan is also a loving husband and father, but he allows his grief to turn to an overwhelming need for vengeance. How does the movie focus on the similarities between them? Also, the end of the film may seem unsettling to some audiences. What do you think happens?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Dwight leaves the scene of his crime and doesn't turn himself in; Ethan fuels his grief with thoughts of revenge, which lead him to attempt murder.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Extremely disturbing image of a dead child face down in the street. Two men have a violent confrontation at gunpoint; a grieving mom screams and sobs, as does a little girl.
  • sex false3 Sex: Grace and Ethan kiss and start to fool around in bed; they embrace in several scenes.
  • language false5 Language: Grief and anger are expressed in strong language: "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "hell" "goddamn," etc.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Boston Red Sox memorabilia and clothes, Mrs. Meyer's soap, Ford Explorer, Volvo, Toyota Prius.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Depressed, Dwight drinks beer and hard liquor in a few scenes.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

2.0

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… obvious, shallow, hand-wringing … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

Reservation Road Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

So-so 289 fan reviews

Critics say

So-so See all critic reviews

Reservation Road Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook