SummarySet in a tranquil town on the coast of Maine, In the Bedroom tells the story of a couple whose only child is involved in a love affair with a single mother. When the relationship comes to a sudden and tragic end, each person must face the intensely difficult decision of how to respond. [Miramax]
Directed By:Todd Field
Written By:Andre Dubus, Robert Festinger, Todd Field
In the Bedroom
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
86
User score
Generally Favorable
7.6
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
86
87% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
13% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Field achieves so convincing a picture of everday normality that when violence breaks out one feels the same disbelief that one feels when it breaks out in life. [26 Nov 2001, p. 121]
100
There are scenes as true as movies can make them, and even when the story develops thriller elements, they are redeemed, because the movie isn't about what happens, but about why.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.6
80% Positive
52 Ratings
52 Ratings
17% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
3% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Oct 15, 2012
10
Sissy Spacek great acting as always , Anyway, this is a great movie to me: adult and charismatic. Superb acting, excellent screenplay, good direction and an intense alarming atmosphere
May 25, 2019
7
Tomei finds herself between Spacek and Wilkinson in awe, reflecting that very emotions, the project cannot be seen with the naked eye. In The Bedroom Field's field is a battlefield. An ongoing war that doesn't get any chance to think or reminisce about mistake. But mind you, this war goes on exhaustingly for the first act. After which, the director, Todd Field, is letting you sink in, the choreography of the battle, tantalizing you for more than, the leftover, one hour. Split into three acts, the introduction is all jazz-like smooth. From paraphrasing the intentions and behaviors of the characters, the thrill comes in expensively and gasps heard in every house of the lane. And the last act, is challenging the smoothness of that first act. Close call, gets a whole new definition and nail-biting situations, well.. bite away. But personally to me, the stillness captured in the middle act of the film, that helps transcend this drama into thriller, is more inspiring and brainy. The elements are trailed across like bread crumbs that builds quite a pyramid to later climb upon. Now, the performance. A crucial part to a film. As all do, but this one's exceptionally impressive. Sissy Spacek as the pain bearer and apparently creator, her body language can whimper even Tom Wilkinson's performance. And hovering around, trying to please his partner, and find solace on the way through pursuing tiny glimpses of hope, Wilkinson is quite the challenger to Spacek's non-verbal answers. Yet, I find myself jumping on Marisa Tomei's side. To be on her place has got to be the worst pickle you find yourself in. Still her presence is warm and soothing, even when she is taking a hit or nodding to the comfort given to her. Her performance is perfectly balanced, tip-toeing across the bridge of guilt and horror, she is ripped apart In The Bedroom, garden, workplace and every last piece of land.
100
The compositions, the editing, the lighting, the sound, the music: everything seems meticulously considered, conjuring up a hushed intimacy that instantly sucks you in.
88
Field does what most American directors don't: He shows people at work, in the day-to-day activity unmarked by excitement.
80
If Dubus' work always resembled some sort of literary therapy session, as has often been said, then Field's version requires grief counseling. It is, at times, that devastating.
75
Directed by newcomer Todd Field, who has a sensitive eye and a knack for storytelling.
50
Increasingly unconvincing, In the Bedroom turns genteel rabble-rouser. Field's leisurely buildup forestalls but doesn't prevent his movie's mutation into a granola "Death Wish."
Aug 22, 2014
7
Thanks to some keen use of such thematic ideas as the cycle of violence and the causes and effects of death, "In The Bedroom" kicks the crap out of the viewer's heart and leaves them with a whole lot to think about.
Oct 19, 2022
4
I found this film very flawed in several choices. The characters are poorly written (not very detailed) and the film fails every time you need to build tension. For example, Frank Fowler's murder scene wears out too quickly and the violence stays out of the camera. The same goes for the most important scene in the third act of the film.
The killer's psychology is not in-depth, and neither is that of the victim's father, eager for revenge. Cinematography is as good as the original cast but with a script like this, even the acting is negatively affected. I was not at all convinced by this debut by Todd Phillips.
Production Company:
- Good Machine
- Standard Film Company
- GreeneStreet Films
- SK Global
Release Date:Nov 23, 2001
Duration:2 h 10 m
Rating:R
Tagline:A young man. An older woman. Her ex-husband. Things are about to explode...
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 5 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Online Film Critics Society Awards
• 1 Win & 8 Nominations
