In the Bedroom Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)March 5th, 2002
IN THE BEDROOM (2001) / *** 1/2
Directed by Todd Field. Screenplay by Robert Festinger and Field, from a story by Andre Dubus. Starring Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Marisa Tomei. Running time: 133 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on March 5th, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Matt Fowler (Wilkinson) and his wife Ruth (Spacek) live in a small New England fishing community. Their son Frank (Nick Stahl), home from college for the summer, becomes involved with Natalie (Tomei), a separated mother of two. When Natalie's jealous husband Richard (William Mapother) commits a terrible act of violence, the Fowler family is torn apart, perhaps forever.
Review: Audiences searching for a plot should look elsewhere; "In The Bedroom" is one of those movies which is low on incident and, true, this makes its opening hour a bit sluggish. But plot simply isn't the point here; "In The Bedroom" is the sort of film in which characters are placed in a situation, and the entire picture is simply an observation of how they react, cope, and learn from that situation. In this case, the focus is on Matt and Ruth. At the start of the movie, they share a warm relationship, but there are hints that this is at least partly a veneer -- that the years they have spent together have quietly opened up an almost imperceptible void which separates them. The events of "In The Bedroom" do not only widen that void, but cast Matt and Ruth headlong into it. We watch as their marriage crumbles, and we are left to wonder how they will be transformed, both as individuals and as a couple, by the film's end. This kind of film relies on its actors, and all involved are more than up to the challenge. Wilkinson is amiably understated as the father whose best days are behind him; Spacek is sublime as the rock-steady mother who suddenly finds there's no ground beneath her feet. And Field's direction is excellent: gentle and almost deceptively evocative of its maritime setting, yet shocking and unrelenting when it needs to be.
Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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