Martin Donovan, Hal Hartley's actor of choice, stars as a gay doctor in the low-key British drama Hollow Reed. Having lost custody of his son (Sam Bould) following his divorce, Donovan reluctantly fights his wife (Joely Richardson) in court in order to take him away from her abusive new boyfriend. Hollow Reed never strays far beyond movie-of-the-week territory, but, thanks to sensitive performances and the sturdy direction of Angela Pope, it doesn't really matter. Newcomer Bould deserves credit not only for not being an annoying child actor, but for actually capturing the difficulties of a troubled childhood, and Donovan, Richardson, and Ian Hart as Donovan's lover all make their characters convincing. Hollow Reed does raise a number of issues only to subsequently dodge them with a climax that ties things up too neatly, but there's enough going on along the way to allow it to transcend the issue-movie genre.