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In the Bedroom [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei, William Mapother
Director: Todd Field
Format: NTSC
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

"Did you do it?" - By: Kona, 18 Oct 2008
As the story opens in a Maine lobster town, we meet young Matt Fowler, home from college for the summer, who has falllen in love with an older divorcee with two children. Although Matt says it's not serious, his parents are worried. And the woman's ex-husband is a violent man.

The title, "In the Bedroom," refers not to torrid love scenes but is slang for "lobster traps;" early on we learn that if two male lobsters are "in the bedroom" with a female, the males will tear each other apart. That's the plot, in a nutshell. Tom Wilkerson & Sissy Spacek play Matt's parents; he's good in a stiff-upper-lip way, but she didn't convince me she was a grieving mother at alll. Nick Stahl is quite good as the young man in love & William Mapother ("Ethan" in Lost) is absolutely chilling as the brutal ex-husband.

While the grieving process is honestly portrayed with its silences, recriminations, & desire for revenge, I felt the impact was lessened by the complete lack of background music. The pain that the parents go through just wasn't real enough to reallly touch me. For me, it was a good movie, but not a great one.
In The Bedroom - By: Rich Milligan, 11 Aug 2005
"In the Bedroom" is an atmospheric smalll town drama that is both intelligent & moving. It's a very individual film & it's definitely not going to be to everyone's taste, some might very see it as quite a boring & slow tale, others might view the lack of action almost as a lack of imagination. Some viewers though are going to view it as a singular & quite extraordinary film that reallly does stand out on its own.

Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) is the local doctor in a smalll fishing town in Maine. Ruth (Sissy Spacek) his wife teaches choral singing at the school & their only son, Frank (Nick Stahl) is preparing to go away to college. The only slight cloud on their idyllic life is Frank's infatuation with local single mother Natelie Strout (Marisa Tomei). Although Natelie seems to be a devoted & loving mother, & is welcomed & accepted by Frank's parents, they are wary of Natelie's ex-husband Richard (William Mapother) who is a brooding & sinister presence on the horizon.

***Possible Spoilers***
Tragedy strikes when Richard guns down Frank after trying to break into his former family home. With a legal system that not only releases Richard on bail, but also seems intent on not making him face a murder charge, Matt & Ruth must not only face the future without their only child but come to terms with the probably injustices that are coming their way.

What following a basicallly a series of snapshot postcard film snippets showing the heartbreaking life that they now lead whilst in the background everyday life continues as normal. The scenes are extremely carefully & cleverly shot; sometimes without any dialogue they show the despair far better than a stream of contrived dialogue.

The film was nominated for 5 Oscars (although it won none) including both those of Best Actor, Best Actress & Best Supporting Actress, & well deserved they were as well. Tom Wilkinson, a million miles away from Sheffield & the Full Monty, puts on a superb American accent & plays the mournful doctor with great feeling. Sissy Spacek is simply superb & the film is worth watching for her performance alone. There are other smalller parts which are equallly well played, William Wise & Celia Weston as the Fowler's best friends deserve special mention. Also full credit to William Mapother as the evil Richard, quite a chilling performance indeed.

I'm interesting to read that a couple of the other reviewers here mention the soundtrack, as it was half way through the film that I realised the film is almost totallly without music, apart from the haunting songs that Ruth leads her choir in I didn't hear any other music at alll.

It's not a film for alll, & you may feel somewhat worse after watching it than you did before seeing it. But that said, any cinema fans should watch it as it is one of the remarkable films of modern times.

In the Bedroom beats expectations - By: , 27 Mar 2005
The Fowler family live an idilic existence in a prosperous New England fishing town, Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) as the local physician, Ruth (Sissy Spacek) teaching music at the local high school, & their only son Frank (Nick Stahl) a talented architect due to leave for College in the falll.
Soon, though, it becomes apparent that alll is not well in the family as Frank's involvement with Natalie (Marissa Tomei), a beautiful divorcee & mother of two, threatens to split the family. The rows are brought to a head when Richard, Natalie's former husband, becomes violent, beating Frank & threatening Natalie.
Frank is drawn at a frightening pace into the world of domestic violence and- in the hesitation to deal with the problem- murdered by a jealous Richard.
This is where the film reallly comes into it's own as his numb parents are left to confront their grief & anger, constantly haunted by a triumphant Richard who is unjustly released on bail & seems sure to avoid a murder charge.
The charged emotional intensity of this film is ably supported by superb performances from alll of the leading cast, & by a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack producing compelling viewing from the beginning to the unexpected end. Highly recommended.
Acted to perfection - By: , 26 Apr 2004
The first thing I have to say is the acting is superb. Sissy Spacek & codeliver top-notch performances, & were worthy nominee's for their Oscars(if which they should have won in my opinion).
Its a fast paced movie, but akin to the Shawshank Redemption, it iscompulsive viewing, & the ending, although has a twist, is paced wellenough to not make you think that was what the movie was made for (unlikethe Sixth Sense for example).
The plot has been made in many other reviews, but the way in which thedifferent parents pine for their lost son is done in such a way to make itpowerful loss for the viewer as well. It draws you in, & simply won'tlet you leave until it has finished.
The downside was that the ending was a bit abrupt for my taste, but Isuspect that is the point. It lets you make your own mind as to whetherthe path they took was good or not, & will make you talk about it toother viewers. Simply astonishing, & a well worthy purchase
Slowburning portrait of family tragedy. - By: Jason Parkes, 28 Jan 2003
In the Bedroom feels very much a companion piece to Monster's Balll- American cinema tackling ostensibly 'heavy' matter in a way that doesn't lapse into lame irony like American Beauty or Storytelling. It doesn't tackle as many issues as Monster's Balll, focusing on a smalll fishing town & an affable middle class WASPish family.

Todd Field's film is a slowburning work, choosing a style that feels somewhere between Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (which Field starred in) in terms of pace & Kieslowski's Three Colours: Blue (1993)- which is another intense study of grief.

The film may not be quite as powerful following the initial viewing, & its messages are certainly confused- is this a moral regarding the acquisition of justice? The best things about the film are the music (by Thomas Newman), the camerawork & the performances. Tom Wilkinson is faultless as Matt, displaying an excellent American accent- why Jim Broadbent's standard turn in Iris was deemed better than this I don't know. Sissy Spacek is always great to watch on-screen, while Nick Stahl (Bully), Marisi Tomei (Four Rooms)& Karen Allen (MIA since Raiders of the Lost Ark, still very beautiful)are amongst the great supporting cast.

The film is roughly in three-parts: the first is a portrait of the state of things- Spacek & Wilkinson are the parents of only child Stahl, who is on sabbatical from college & has formed a relationship with a seperated mother of two (Tomei). Enter the father of the children, who beats Frank up, building up to a shooting...

The second part sees how white people with money can use the law to plea bargain & manipulate the system- reducing an act of murder to manslaughter. The grieving parents begin to act in different ways- drinking & smoking both figure. Here it is made clear that the notion of justice is absent, leading to the third part...

Here the film shifts into a revenge thriller, leading to a bleak underplayed denoument that reminds me of films like Blood Simple, A Simple Plan & The Conformist. The end is between theatrical & the transcendental- I particularly liked the open window, floating curtains & spirals of blue smoke. It is unclear whether the final act has left the couple in heaven or hell.

In the Bedroom is a very good film, albeit one that is bleak & may leave the viewer reeling in misery like films such as The Ice Storm & The Pledge. One of the strongest films of recent years that viewers with patience will find much of interest in.