No 'Reservation' necessary

Sometimes a film can arrive with such a solid-gold pedigree you think you simply must embrace it. So goes "Reservation Road," which unites Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino together with "Hotel Rwanda" director Terry George. The project screams quality, but the finished product is sorely disappointing. Phoenix and Connelly play a couple who lose their son when a distracted driver (Ruffalo) plows into a gas station lot where the boy is letting loose some butterflies. Right away we're immersed in grief, but we aren't sure what kind of film will follow. Is it a meditation on recovery, a vigilante vehicle or a hybrid of the two? The film isn't sure, either. Instead, it relies on our affection for these fine actors to set its course. Sadly, they can't, especially with Connelly shrieking in such a coarse, improbable role.
"Reservation Road" is as maudlin as "Things We Lost in the Fire," but the latter finds the kind of redemption for its characters that "Road" isn't smart enough to achieve.