The Rabbit Hole - Kevin's Thoughts

All right - we just saw The Rabbit Hole, with Cynthia Nixon of "Sex and the City" fame. So I thought it was okay. It was a little contrived, and it kind of struck me as a little awkward and really trying for sappy tearjerkiness. But I guess I was pretty into it, since I didn't nod off even though it was pretty slowly paced. I didn't even check my watch, but I did get pretty restless during the second act. You know, where things and noises in the theater started to distract me. But I was compelled, and I wouldn't say I disliked it (For comparison, I slept through the first half of the anomalously well-reviewed Apparition, and then got really annoyed in the second half that I wasn't falling asleep. And A Touch of the Poet made my wrist sore from twisting it to check the time so often). However, I didn't really walk out of this play feeling like I got much out of it. I guess my feelings toward it were pretty neutral.

There were definitely many moments where I laughed out loud, perhaps even guffawed (but that may just be relative since it was kind of a heavy play), and it could be pretty entertaining at moments. I thought Tyne Daly, who plays the mom, was really quite good. I guess I was expecting to be moved a lot more than I actually was; I thought only one scene was really powerful, but not even overwhelmingly so. Like I admit, my eyes well up at some really moving movies or shows (okay, I've even cried some, but I usually have to be in some kind of mood), but I didn't really feel it for this show. Perhaps it was because I couldn't really relate with the characters, or that the chemistry between Cynthia Nixon and her onstage husband was not really there, but it just didn't pull me the way I think the subject matter should have. I thought a lot of the little things, like some of the random toys or whatever, were more moving than the dialogue and interactions. A lot of people we talked to afterwards really loved it, but I thought it was just okay, or maybe a wee smidge better than okay. Definitely not bad, but I wasn't blown away. I would give it like a thumb that maybe wavers between angling 14 -42 degrees upward.

Lydia, however, has some pretty strong opinions (I believe the word sh*tty was used multiple times in our post-show discussion), so she can post or comment this one. ..