In the Bedroom
In the Bedroom is directed by Todd Field, who is perhaps more recognizable as the pianist Nick Nightingale in Eyes Wide Shut than as a director. The screenplay is by Robert Festinger, and this is apparently his first work. Set in a quiet fishing village (so you know that something dark is going to happen) In the Bedroom is about a young man Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) involved with an older woman, Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei). But Natalie has not yet properly divorced ex Richard Strout (William Mapother), an archetypal violent American with a mo and a pick-up truck; this creates problems. Frank’s mother Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek) is rather concerned about her son’s romantic adventures, but the more she expresses said concern, the more son is determined to rebel against her wishes. Frank’s father Dr Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson I) is not nearly so concerned and takes something of a liking to Natalie. Anyway, things come to a head and bla.
I enjoyed In the Bedroom, though it was very slow-moving so don’t see it when you’re hyper. I don’t see dramas very often, but as far as they go, this was fairly good. Genuinely moving with convincing acting though I thought Tom Wilkinson’s was weak at times. The conviction and credibility with which the Fowlers’ emotional journeys were portrayed was probably the best aspect of this film. In the Bedroom had a sort of simplicity and power to it. The sparsity of the soundtrack (almost non-existent); the fact that the characters didn’t launch into wild tantrums every two seconds as in most American dramas; the simplicity of the plot; all combined to produce something that was at once austere and moving.
On a scale of 1 to 10, In the Bedroom would get a 5. To put this in context:
1 = Piss = Million Dollar Hotel, Planet of the Apes (Marky
Mark version)
2 = Piss but possibly worth the ticket if only as object of pop-cultural
analysis = Phantom Menace
3 = Weak = Planet of the Apes (Charlton Heston version)
4 = Not Bad = The Matrix
5 = Good = Fight Club, In the Bedroom
6 = Rather Good = Heavenly Creatures, Enemy at the Gates
7 = Pretty Damn Cool = Fellowship of the Ring, Rocky,
Clerks, The Big Lebowski
8 = Almost Almost Great = Hellraiser
9 = Almost Great = Braindead, The Exorcist, 2001,
The Life of Brian
10 = Great = Desert of the Tartars
Matthew
