Focus Features has released the trailer for its upcoming drama, “Reservation Road,” and it's posted below. The film is set to open October 19^th.

“Reservation Road” is about Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) and Dwight (Mark Ruffalo), two fathers whose lives intersect when Dwight runs over Ethan’s son, killing him.  Ethan, dissatisfied with the authorities’ search for his son’s killer, decides to do his own detective work.  He suspects that Dwight is responsible, but we don’t know what he plans to do with that information.  That’s about all the trailer gives us, even though it is quite long.  There is also a gun involved, but we’ll see how it is used and handled.

The movie is directed by Terry George, who directed the powerful “Hotel Rwanda.”  The trailer reminds me a little bit of “Mystic River,” because it looks like Joaquin Phoenix is so determined to find his son’s killer that he forfeits his humanity. 

I liked the trailer because it didn’t go for a lot of the clichés that are so prevalent in most trailers, like “Death Sentence” and “Four Brothers” (these are films in which much of their appeal is based on the gruesome nature of the bad guys’ demise, and the trailer plays them up to fit more into the action genre).  Even though “Reservation Road” appears to be a revenge movie, it seems as though the resolution of the film will be much more complex, with much of its conflict revolving around the blurred line between justice and revenge.

Joaquin Phoenix is great, and though most of the roles I’ve seen Mark Ruffalo in give him about as much personality as a cardboard box, this looks like it could prove his acting ability.  Jennifer Connelly, a fantastic actress, also stars as Phoenix’s wife.

Terry George is a capable director (“Hotel Rwanda” was one of the most tense, disturbing, frustrating and heartbreaking movie experiences I’ve had in a long time), who doesn’t go for contrived melodrama or clearly defined lines of good and bad, which always gives the audience much more to talk about after they leave the theater.

I also like that primary screenwriting credits have been given to John Burnham Schwartz, who wrote the book of the same name.  This gives me confidence that the script will reflect Schwartz’s own translation from book to screen, which usually helps films survive the transition. 

Focus Features lists that “Reservation Road” will only be in limited release at the beginning, meaning those involved are looking more for critical acclaim than big box office numbers.  It looks to me like Oscar season is about to begin.