Holden Pike
12-26-01, 09:45 PM
http://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=13030&stc=1&d=1392831398 http://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=13031&stc=1&d=1392831423
In the Bedroom is a small character drama that is already garnering awards attention, and will likely continue to do so into the Oscars - at least for the acting.
Unfortunately, if you've seen the theatrical trailer for In the Bedroom it gives the bulk of the story away, but since this is a piece about the characters more than the plot specifics, that doesn't hurt too much. Nor does it hurt that the story itself, nor the way it is told, is anything terribly new. It is the acting that makes this film special, in particular the two leads.
Tom Wilkinson (http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0247425/1219_25.jpg) (The Full Monty, Sense & Sensibility) stars as Matt Fowler, a modest doctor in a quiet Maine town. His schoolteacher wife, Ruth, is played by Sissy Spacek (http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0247425/1219_24.jpg). The story chiefly concerns an incident that arises from a relationship between their son, played by Nick Stahl (The Man Without a Face, Disturbing Behavior), and a slightly older woman (Marisa Tomei). But the focus of drama is the internal kind, how the characters deal with things individually and with each other, the kinds of unsaid feelings and deep-seeded resentments that fester for a lifetime, shape who we are and how we see the world, and are exposed in times of crisis.
Wilkinson and Spacek are both fantastic, conveying so much non-verbally - in their eyes and their body language, as much and often more than their actions and words. It is the kind of intelligent and emotional script that is a showcase for actors who can show what they are thinking on screen without the aid of Pop Music montages and sitcom-style zingers. Spacek already has five Oscar nominations and one win behind her, and she has a very real shot at a sixth. Wlkinson has never been nominated, but certainly deserves it for his work here.
The movie is directed surely by Todd Field, who may be familiar to some as an actor in such movies as Eyes Wide Shut, The Haunting, Walking & Talking, and Ruby in Paradise. Here is behind the camera only, and while he has helmed well-received short pieces before, this is his proper feature directorial debut. Thematically In the Bedroom is the kind of material that Cassavetes might have tackled in the '70s and has become the territory of Sean Penn and Atom Egoyan today. Visually and narratively the movie isn't particularly memorable - not incompetent, just straightforward. But wisely enough, the style is all in the service of these characters and actors.
The script was co-written by Field as well, an adaptation of a Andre Dubus short story.
The plotting of the ending may wind things up a little too neatly for some, but I thought it worked in the emotional context of those characters. Most importantly (again), those central performances make In the Bedroom worth seeing, and likely Oscar bait as well. Grade: B+
.
.
In the Bedroom is a small character drama that is already garnering awards attention, and will likely continue to do so into the Oscars - at least for the acting.
Unfortunately, if you've seen the theatrical trailer for In the Bedroom it gives the bulk of the story away, but since this is a piece about the characters more than the plot specifics, that doesn't hurt too much. Nor does it hurt that the story itself, nor the way it is told, is anything terribly new. It is the acting that makes this film special, in particular the two leads.
Tom Wilkinson (http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0247425/1219_25.jpg) (The Full Monty, Sense & Sensibility) stars as Matt Fowler, a modest doctor in a quiet Maine town. His schoolteacher wife, Ruth, is played by Sissy Spacek (http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0247425/1219_24.jpg). The story chiefly concerns an incident that arises from a relationship between their son, played by Nick Stahl (The Man Without a Face, Disturbing Behavior), and a slightly older woman (Marisa Tomei). But the focus of drama is the internal kind, how the characters deal with things individually and with each other, the kinds of unsaid feelings and deep-seeded resentments that fester for a lifetime, shape who we are and how we see the world, and are exposed in times of crisis.
Wilkinson and Spacek are both fantastic, conveying so much non-verbally - in their eyes and their body language, as much and often more than their actions and words. It is the kind of intelligent and emotional script that is a showcase for actors who can show what they are thinking on screen without the aid of Pop Music montages and sitcom-style zingers. Spacek already has five Oscar nominations and one win behind her, and she has a very real shot at a sixth. Wlkinson has never been nominated, but certainly deserves it for his work here.
The movie is directed surely by Todd Field, who may be familiar to some as an actor in such movies as Eyes Wide Shut, The Haunting, Walking & Talking, and Ruby in Paradise. Here is behind the camera only, and while he has helmed well-received short pieces before, this is his proper feature directorial debut. Thematically In the Bedroom is the kind of material that Cassavetes might have tackled in the '70s and has become the territory of Sean Penn and Atom Egoyan today. Visually and narratively the movie isn't particularly memorable - not incompetent, just straightforward. But wisely enough, the style is all in the service of these characters and actors.
The script was co-written by Field as well, an adaptation of a Andre Dubus short story.
The plotting of the ending may wind things up a little too neatly for some, but I thought it worked in the emotional context of those characters. Most importantly (again), those central performances make In the Bedroom worth seeing, and likely Oscar bait as well. Grade: B+
.
.