Rating of
3.5/4
Tragic masterpiece
filmfan09 - wrote on 03/18/09
Natalie (Marisa Tomei)is a married mother dating Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl),a college student who's about 10 years younger than she is. She is separated from her husband Richard (William Mapother), though their divorce has not yet been finalized. He does not accept the fact that his marriage is over. Frank's parents Matt (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth (Sissy Spacek)are worried that the situation between the three will get out of hand. One day, Richard snaps and breaks into Natalie's home. When he discovers Frank is there, he viciously kills him. Richard later is released on bail, free to go his own way as he awaits his trial. Leaving Matt and Ruth, both deeply traumatized by the event; while Matt tries to deal with his hurt by avoiding his feelings, Ruth instead becomes withdrawn, losing interest in her job as a music teacher and spending her nights in front of the television.
Directed by Todd Field, IN THE BEDROOM portrays a haunting, painfully honest portrait of a family's grief and simmering rage. This is a emotionally powerful drama with such great performances achieved by every member of its cast. Marisa Tomei is wonderful as the conflicted mom and Nick Stahl goes a nice job. But the movie belong to Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek both of their performances take the movie to a surprising dirction. These are oscar- worthy performances from Spacek, Wilkinson and Tomei who were in fact all nominated that year with Best Picture and Best Screenplay. The film just blow me away because of the dialogue and the situations these charactes are in where so real and full of tension that you'll be on the edge of your seat watching such a powerful piece of work.
