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IN THE BEDROOM Send This Review to a Friend
A superb cast and a gripping atmosphere help make "In the Bedroom," a standout at the Toronto International Film Festival, among the best films of 2001. Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson give award-caliber performances playing Ruth and Matt Fowler, a couple whose son Frank (Nick Stahl), still a college student, has taken up one summer with the older Natalie, a mother who is divorcing her angry, abusive husband Richard (William Mapother). Marisa Tomei plays Natalie in a dramatic performance that is her best to date. Frank's mother, feeling her son isn't ready, disdains the relationship, which is headed for tragedy.
The drama turns on the issue of whether justice can be served, and it is difficult to discuss the film without giving away the plot. But the disturbing question of the law versus taking matters into one's hands dominates the agenda. Spacek and Wilkinson are terrific, and the film is a very impressive feature debut on virtually all counts by Todd Field as co-writer (with Rob Festinger), director and co-producer. "In the Bedroom" is based on a story by Andre Dubus.
Apart from the absorbing plot, the film gains from the observant depiction of the Maine coastal setting, where Matt is a doctor and Ruth is a choral music teacher. Their son Frank, in addition to pursuing his love affair, is spending the summer working part time as a lobsterman. The calm, colorful local atmosphere as the backdrop makes the traumatic events even more startling.
As Natalie, Frank's girlfriend, Tomei brings considerable warmth and personality to the part. Natalie dotes on Frank, despite his mother's misgivings, but she is also fending off the hotheaded Richard, who isn't the type to part gracefully. One readily senses that something awful can happen, yet when it does, the expectations don't diminish the shock.
Ultimately the drama grows eerie and provocative, and one can leave the theater arguing about right and wrong. But informing the entire story is the intensely personal drama of a marriage, with Matt and Ruth in some ways growing apart, yet reaching for what can hold them together. The sensitivity and nuance with which Spacek and Wilkinson approach their respective roles make for believable, well-developed characters in the throes of an emotional crisis that will never leave them quite the same even after the immediate problem has been addressed. A Miramax Films release.
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