Reservation Road

Reservation Road - In Theaters October 19.

Based on the bestselling novel by John Burnham Schwartz, Reservation Road is a gripping psychological thriller from two-time Academy Award-nominated writer/director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda). A tale of anger, revenge, and great courage, the film follows two fathers as their families and lives converge in a series of events triggered by an unexpected tragedy. As a reckoning looms, the two fathers are forced to make the hardest choices of their lives.

Featuring an all-star cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), Mark Ruffalo (You Can Count On Me), Jennifer Connelly (Blood Diamond), and Mira Sorvino (Gods and Generals), Reservation Road probes the limits of human restraint, the lure of revenge, and the extraordinary power of redemption.

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"Why should he get away with it?"

"I want this guy to feel hunted."

"He's all I got left."

"How many of these killers do you catch?"

"Nobody can seem to find my son's killer."

Why We Love - Joaquin Phoenix

Because after years and years of playing supporting roles as "that dark, creepy kid" in many well-received and acknowledged films, Joaquin has finally proven that he has the chutzpah to successfully carry a leading role. Often cast as the shy, somewhat strange guy whose quirks overshadow his inherent goodness, Joaquin began laying the groundwork for his superstardom early in his career in such films as To Die For, Return to Paradise, and Inventing the Abbotts. Of course, the world began to take notice of Joaquin after his Oscar®-nominated supporting performance in Gladiator playing Maximus's ruthless and immature rival Commodus. Having earned a Best Actor Oscar nominee for his starring role as the Man in Black himself, it looks as though Joaquin Phoenix has finally earned the right to Walk The Line out of the shadows and into the spotlight, as his riveting performance in Reservation Road can attest.

Find more actors we love on our Why We Love page.

Why We Love – Mark Ruffalo

Because few actors of his generation can play dramatic roles with as much depth and sincerity as Mark Ruffalo. His breakout performance as Laura Linney’s ne’er-do-well brother in Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count On Me had some critics comparing him to a young Brando for his authenticity and simmering intensity. Opposite Sarah Polley in My Life Without Me, Ruffalo plays a man who falls in love with a dying woman, and once again pulls off a moving performance around a sad subject without delving into melodrama or soppiness. In a more suspenseful vein is Jane Campion’s steamy In the Cut, where Ruffalo won high praise for displaying an effortless magnetism. From there he took the chance to branch out and try new things, accepting roles in romantic comedies opposite big name Hollywood actresses, like Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon, like 13 Going On 30 with Jennifer Garner, and Rumor Has It with Jennifer Aniston. Since then he has returned to his roots as a dramatic actor, working with some of Hollywood’s biggest names in films like David Fincher’s police procedural Zodiac. Now in Reservation Road, Ruffalo plays attorney Dwight Arno, a heavily-conflicted man who must come to grips with a horrible mistake that could cost him his family, and destroy another. It’s another exceptional performance, and one that proves Ruffalo’s well-earned success to date is no fluke.

Why We Love – Jennifer Connolly

Because few actresses her age have amassed a resume of such substance while earning success at the box office, proving that she has an eye for good scripts and a loyal audience as well. From art house flicks like Ed Harris’s Pollock and the highly acclaimed Requiem for a Dream, to more mainstream fare such as Hulk and Blood Diamond, Connelly has continually worked with cinema’s top artists and visionaries—including Alfonso Cuaron, Edward Zwick, and Vadim Perelman, to name a few—building her career on projects of merit. She started her career early, at the young age of 14, in Sergio Leone’s epic Once Upon a Time in America, and proved that she had what it takes to be a leading lady in Hollywood in John Hughes’s romantic comedy Career Opportunities. With her dark good looks and sultry eyes, Connelly probably could have crafted a niche career for herself in big budget romantic comedies as the girl all the guys want. But instead she chose projects like House of Sand and Fog opposite Ben Kingsley, and the emotionally turbulent Little Children, a career path which has established her as one of Hollywood’s most dramatically capable actresses. This background makes her a perfect fit for the stellar ensemble that anchors a psychological thriller like Reservation Road.

Why We Love – Mira Sorvino

Because she’s different from most other leading women on the screen today, possessing a rare combination or extreme intelligence, unforgettable beauty, talent, dramatic range, and all without being afraid to have fun and be playful with her characters. Because we don’t know of any other actresses who started out by majoring in Chinese at Harvard. Because she’s hilarious in movies like Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite (for which she won an Academy Award), and along with Lisa Kudrow as a lovable ditz in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion . Because she’s successfully branched out from type to prove her range in roles like The Princess in the classically based The Triumph of Love and as Delila in the sci-fi thriller The Final Cut. Because in Reservation Road, as Mark Ruffalo’s ex-wife struggling with their difficult relationship, she gives another tremendous performance and proves that she belongs in the upper echelon of today’s leading ladies.