In the Bedroom
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Movie Reviews of In the Bedroom
Movie Review: The Bite of Moxie
Summary: 5 Stars
Matt and Ruth Fowler are a typical couple living in Camden, Maine when their son Frank returns home from college for the summer. They are an educated, friendly, and well-liked couple who exist at the beginning of the film as the slightly overbearing but loving parents in the backdrop of Frank's blooming love for a woman, Natalie, who is in the midst of a tricky divorce and who has two children. However, after a terrible tragedy, the focus of the film swings sharply toward the Fowler couple and remains on them for the duration of the film giving a touching, accurate portrait of their grief and internal emotional wanderings. Alongside these intensely personal portraits we are given an overview of the instinct for survival in a slow, enclosed community. Director Todd Field is not afraid to let the camera linger on the characters as they force themselves to keep up appearances and find a way to continue a "normal" life. Ruth (Sissy Spacek), the most interesting and carefully drawn character, is a restrained and devastatingly resentful woman whose emotional pressure builds with enormous force over the film. You know that when she blows it will be huge. What is so moving and touchingly realistic about the film is the persistence of life in the face of others' tragedies. Poignant scenes between the characters are continuously interrupted by the small interventions of other people, a woman asking for change, a girl selling candy bars for a fundraiser, etc. And this inclusion of the trivial is what makes the devastation so biting. For the bright, hopeful beginning we are given, the movie turns into a dark and haunting affair of anger and hate. It is a beautiful and thought-provoking film that will leave you stunned.Movie Review: A sudden act of violence -- and then the real story begins!
Summary: 5 Stars
This award winning 2001 film is a deep psychological study of a married coupled, played by Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek, and how their relationship is put under a microscope after a sudden act of violence turns their lives upside down. Many of their conversations and deeply moving scenes take place in their bedroom, and that is where the title comes from. I cannot say enough good things about their performances. They actually become their characters. The connections are deep, including love in all its elements and they manage to capture it all.The story takes place in a small town in Maine where Tom Wilkinson is the doctor and Sissy Spacek directs the high school's choral society. Their pride and joy is their son, played by Nick Stahl, a college student who's romancing Marisa Tomei. Problem is that Tomei is slightly older, has two young children, and is not yet divorced from her angry husband, played by William Mapother. There sure are problems. But the problems get worse. After that, the real story unfolds.
It's all very sad then, and some of the parts drag, but rightly so - as the unhappiness and frustration of the impact of the incident escalate. The cinematography captures the essence of the fishing town perfectly and we even get a glimpse of what life is like for lobster fishermen. All the actors are excellent and all of the roles demanding. For a while I could even forget it was a movie and just get into the story, which unfolds slowly, and is more intense than merely telling what happens; it also explores in excruciating detail why things happens. The impact of this film is lingering and makes the viewer think. Well done. And very unsettling. Recommended.
Movie Review: One of the most disturbing American films ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
Stylistically, Todd Field's "In the Bedroom" seems to belong to the same elegant, tasteful tradition as such films as "Ordinary People" and "The Accidental Tourist." All the better to lull the audience until the time when he starts detonating bombs under their seats. Unlike the two aforementioned films, which depict tasteful, Waspy types dealing with the aftermath of tragedy, "In the Bedroom" exposes the raw nerve endings that are revealed, in all their bloody glory, during and just after an unspeakable and unexpected tragedy. Furthermore, its ending--though shot in the same low-key way as the rest of the film-- is anything but quiet and tasteful, leaving audiences with a Pandora's box full of disturbing questions. Adding immeasurably to the film's impact are the performances, so honest and forthright that they break our hearts. As the parents of the victim, Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson are mesmerizing in their raw, desolate grief. The scene in which they start blaming each other for the tragedy is a high-water mark for acting in an American movie. Nick Stahl, naive and innocent as a golden retriever puppy, is almost unbearably poignant as their son, and Marisa Tomei is superb as the vulnerable, confused young mother with whom Stahl has a romantic fling. Capping the ensemble is William Mapother, unforgettable as the ultimate conscienceless creep, all the more frightening for being--at least outwardly--a normal, everyday kind of guy. The depths of hatred and violence that seethe below the surface of everyday people are very much the subject of "In the Bedroom," and its ending--which is very far from a resolution--will haunt you for days.Movie Review: "In the Bedroom" is superb....
Summary: 5 Stars
and my only criticism might be a slightly slow pacing in the film. First time director Todd Field uses the fine touch of a stage director to use the ordinary American Home as a backdrop with incredible symbolism. One of the truly symbolic gestures of the film is Spacek's chain smoking -- it says more about her anxiety and anguish than words could ever tell. In the final scene, a lazy spiral of smoke from the cigarette she leaves on the nightstand tells us exactly who is at peace, at last.Not so Tom Wilkinson, as the father, in an amazing performance. Wilkinson's ease at demonstrating, rather than talking of his feelings and pride for his son and his wife is remarkable. At the close of the film, it is he you worry about -- someone whose soul will continue to be ravaged by violence, even by his own hand. The killing in the films takes place largely offscreen, but the violence is jarring and raw.
Marisa Tomei picks up the vibration from him, and much of her character's feeling is reflected in the way she looks, and not what she says. There are other fine performances in the film, including Spacek, who drives everyone to distraction. The Eastern European dirges she has her choir perform on the anniversary of her son's death are as mournful as anything I've ever heard.
In the Bedroom is not for everyone. You have to want your films to be told by nuance instead of dialogue -- or to have an interesting mix of both. Filming is beautiful, but the additional DVD qualities are just ordinary.
Truly extraordinary!
Movie Review: An Excellent Film! Perhaps the Best of the Year!
Summary: 5 Stars
Although A Beautiful Mind was a knockout film, it slightly takes second place to this stunning story of a family who goes through utter hell when they lose their one and only son. The movie takes place in three parts like a great Russian novel. The first shows the everyday life of the family, how they interact with each other, and the growing love between Nick Stahl and a much older women, Marisa Tomei. The second part deals with the family's loss and shows how one painful thing can lead to endless fights, arguments, and showdowns, specificly between Nick Stahl's parents (Brilliantlly played by Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek). And the Third deals with revenge and many attempts to fill the void of loss. First time Director Todd Fields has brought us a truly haunting story that shows how grief can turn into anger, anger can turn into hate, and hate can turn into revenge. Besides being the best film of the year, it is also a showcase for great performances by Tom Wilkinson, Marisa Tomei, and especially Sissy Spacek who left me speechless and inspired for days after I saw this film. As I brought up in my review of A Beautiful Mind, I felt Russel Crowe was the true Best Actor of the year and was very upset to see him not recieve the Academy Award. The Same goes for Sissy Spacek in this film. Her depiction of Ruth Fowler is nothing short of genuis. She was by far the Best Actress of the year. In a long career of wonderful parts, for her, this is the icing on the cake.