Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei, William Wise, Celia Weston, Karen Allen, William Mapother

Director: Todd Field

Summary: Tragedy strikes at the heart of the family of Matt Fowler, a doctor in Maine. His only son becomes involved in a relationship with a single mother...

Todd Field's IN THE BEDROOM is an artistic and realistic portrait of domestic trouble in small-town America. Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson star as Ruth and Matt Fowler, the parents of a recent high school graduate, Frank (Nick Stahl), who has an affair with a married woman, Natalie (Marisa Tomei). A tragic event near the beginning of the film seems to stunt its action and dialogue, allowing the film to change into a largely visual piece based on memories, feelings, and silent communication; while the film's slow-moving camera, soft sunny lighting, and cautious pacing give it a resonating intensity.
Set in coastal Maine, the Fowlers are a well-liked family with simple, straightforward values. Dr. Fowler has his own small medical practice. Mrs. Fowler directs the chorus at the high school. Frank is a good kid who is working on the fishing docks for the summer, waiting for college in the fall. Frank falls into a summer romance with Natalie, an older woman with two young sons and a creepy, lurking husband (William Mapother) from whom she is separated. The relationship is worrisome to Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, but they want to be supportive of their son so they gently nudge him to think about the bigger picture, without being overbearing. But when the unthinkable happens, Mr. and Mrs. Fowler come face to face with their worst nightmare. Quietly, calmly, and with the most logic they can muster, they begin a dark and dangerous psychological journey. The result, reinforced by stunning performances from Wilkinson and Spacek, is a pensive, penetrating, and utterly believable story.

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A slow-burning, brooding movie that credits its audience with intelligence and patience, In the Bedroomstarts deceptively calmly but builds to a climax of shattering desolation. Actor Todd Field's debut as a director, the film is set in a small coastal town in Maine, home of pleasant middle-class couple Matt and Ruth Fowler and their college-age son Frank. Frank, an adored only child, has started an affair that disquiets his mother; his lover, Natalie, is a lovely woman but a few years older than Frank, with two children, and her estranged rich-kid husband has a very mean streak. Even in this peaceful, well-ordered community, something extremely nasty might happen, and suddenly, shockingly, it does.

It's not the pivotal act of violence but its aftermath that gives the movie its full impact. Field and his coscreenwriter Rob Festinger remorselessly trace the way grief, anger and a thwarted desire for justice can open up rancid cracks in a seemingly placid marriage and turn the most civilised of men to thoughts of murder. And, contrary to Hollywood convention, there's nothing cathartic or redemptive about revenge in this film: the conclusion is bleak. As Ruth, Sissy Spacek is superb, her brittle sunniness giving way to vituperation and anguish, and she's matched step for step by Tom Wilkinson as Matt, deploying a note-perfect Maine accent that never falters. In the Bedroomrarely puts a foot wrong: only the title was perhaps a miscalculation, with its suggestion of steamy rompings. In fact it's a fishing term, meaning what happens when two lobsters get trapped in the same pot.

On the DVD:In the Bedroomon disc has nothing but a trailer by way of extras, which seems like a missed opportunity. Still, the transfer is excellent, faithfully reproducing the full 2.35:1 ratio of the original. --Philip Kemp

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Year:	2001
Release Date:	August 1, 2005
Runtime:	126 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888587
Label:	Miramax
Keywords:	Bedroom, General, Thriller, Elevation
Genre:	Thriller