One-Liners

RABBIT HOLE (2010) (B) - Another second viewing here. Nicole Kidman (Becca) and Aaron Eckhart (Howie) are as sharp as they come as a couple grieving the loss of their 4-year-old son. It's been eight months, and the resentments have piled up substantially. The revelation here is Miles Teller (from the upcoming "The Spectacular Now"), who strikes the perfect note as Jason, the teen who was driving in the wrong place at the wrong time when the boy darted out into the street chasing his dog. When Becca drops out of their grief group, she befriends Jason, an aspiring comic-book artist; meanwhile, Howie is drawn to another solo member of the group (Sandra Oh). Howie also misses the dog, who has been shipped off to a relative's house. John Cameron Mitchell ("Shortbus") moves this along nicely, not worrying if it all feels often like a stage play. David Lindsay-Abaire's script (based on his play) is often compelling, but it never quite crescendos, and Jason's comic fantasy can't quite deliver the emotional impact we need, although the final scene is quite satisfying.

FRANKIE GO BOOM (C) - This comedy about brotherly rivalry starts out clever and then gets so broad that it eventually falls apart.  For a keen indie take on this topic, try the Duplass brothers' "The Do-Deca-Pentathlon." Here, poor Frankie (Charlie Hunnam) has been terrorized his whole life by his hack of a filmmaker brother, Bruce (Chris O'Dowd, yet again). The two haven't talked since Bruce filmed Frankie slugging his cheating bride at their wedding and setting it viral online. Frankie reluctantly returns to their parents' house from his Death Valley exile to attend Bruce's graduation from rehab. Soon, Bruce is somehow filming Frankie having an ED moment with Lassie (the always welcome Lizzy Caplan) and putting the video on the internet.  Craziness ensues, with Chris Noth nearly vaudevillian as Lassie's substance-abusing, gun-waving pulp-filmmaker dad. Once the obviously middle-aged Noth struts in nothing but a jockstrap (not quite as luscious as Caplan in an edible bra), things have gotten away from writer/director Jordan Roberts. By the final scene, we get Nora Dunn (playing the boys' naggy, sassy mom) showing up in one of Bruce's films -- a bad comedian trying to portray a bad actor. The early raunch eventually descends into an intolerable mess.