In the Bedroom (2001)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Rent it

Matt and Ruth Fowler (Wilkinson and Spacek, respectively) have a seemingly perfect home. He has a successful small-town medical practice and she is the choir teacher at the local high school. They have raised a very nice young son, Frank (Stahl) who is going to college and is well on his way to being a rather gifted architect. The only issue they have is that Frank is dating an older woman. She's a soon-to-be-divorced mother of two. Her name is Natalie (Tomei). They have a really nice relationship, but things go really wrong when her soon-to-be-ex-husband takes one of his jealous streaks too far.

Spacek's performance is first rate as is Tomei's. That's about all the good stuff I can say about this movie. One of the reasons why I think these two ladies' performances are so solid is that they pulled them out of a murky, thin script. Don't get me wrong, the dialogue is incredibly human, but the story is just too thin. The problem with Mapother is that doesn't really come across on screen as the kind of guy who could do the terrible things that he does. I couldn't get a good grasp on whether it was his interpretation of the character or the way the character was written, but he just didn't work for me. I just didn't buy it. The main problem with the script, though, is that after the turning point takes place, we are left to wonder through a movie that should have already ended with Tom Wilkinson's character. This is not Wilkinson's fault. He did the best he could with what he was given, but we basically wind up following him around until he finally comes around to doing something...anything. There is no build to the action that his character finally takes.

The DVD is not that surprising either. Really all you get for special features on this one are six trailers for upcoming Miramax films (either to theatres or DVD). No commentary tracks, no behind the scenes featurettes...nothing. Really disappointing.

So, I would say you need to see the movie just to see Spacek and Tomei's performance, but as for adding this one to your collection? I would recommend not...