Themes: Families in Crisis, Death of a Child, Mothers and Sons
Main Cast: Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei, William Mapother
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 138 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Character actor and noted photographer Todd Field made his directorial debut with this emotionally powerful drama, which earned enthusiastic reviews at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) is a handsome and amiable young man who has recently graduated from high school and is spending the summer working as a lobster fisherman before heading off to college in the fall. Frank is also involved with Natalie (Marisa Tomei), an attractive woman ten years his senior who is separated from her husband Richard (William Mapother), though their divorce has not yet been finalized. Frank's parents, Matt (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth (Sissy Spacek) wonder if it's wise for their son to be pursuing a romance that he won't be able to continue in a few months; Matt trusts Frank and leaves him to make his own decisions, while Ruth quietly but firmly registers her objections. One day, Richard snaps, and breaks into Natalie's home; when he discovers Frank is there, he viciously kills him. The wheels of justice turn in an unexpected direction, and Richard is released on bail, free to go his own way as he awaits his trial. Matt and Ruth are both deeply traumatized by the event; while Matt tries to deal with his hurt by retreating into his work and avoiding his feelings, Ruth instead becomes increasingly withdrawn, losing interest in her job as a music teacher and spending her nights chain smoking in front of the television. In the Bedroom was adapted from the short story Killings by Andre Dubus. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Chief among the striking elements of the slow-burning critical favorite, In the Bedroom, is the final name in the opening credits: director Todd Field, a character actor best known to audiences as Tom Cruise's piano-playing friend in Eyes Wide Shut (2000). In his feature-length debut, Field showcases a languid pacing that perfectly suits the coastal Maine community of Camden, which he introduces as a hamlet of quiet insularity, its deceptive comfort peeling away into deep mourning. The soft background soundtrack of Boston Red Sox radio broadcasts is like an entrancing lullaby, heightening the sense of endless summer calm that the plot so viciously overturns. These instincts typify a veteran intuition on Field's part, which also coaxes career-best performances out of a number of actors, notably Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, and Marisa Tomei. Spacek and Wilkinson routinely turn in good work, here offering award-worthy views into the unraveling of two previously contented salt-of-the-earth parents. But Field gets from Tomei a subtlety that was not even required in her Oscar-winning turn in My Cousin Vinny (1990), and has not been evident in her work since. For a consummate character study, In the Bedroom culminates in a manner some critics considered too theatrical, out of sync with the meditative two hours leading up to it. But nearly all of them were able to excuse the ending in deference to Field's detailed incisions into the paralyzing impotence of grief. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
William Wise - Willis Grinell; Celia Weston - Katie Grinell; Karen Allen - Marla Keyes; Veronica Cartwright - Minister on television; Don Lewis - Bridge Operator; Andrea Walker - Waitress; Justin Ashforth - Tim; Daran Norris - Red sox replay; Christopher Adams - Duncan Strout; Sara Armstrong - Chorus; Elly Barksdale - Chorus; Erin Barksdale - Chorus; Daniel Baxter-Leahy - Rockland T-ball; Rebecca Benner - Rockland T-ball; Bethany Berry - Rockland T-ball; Hope Berry - Rockland T-ball; David Blair - Marlboro Man; Terry A. Burgess - District Attorney; John Campanello - Reporter; Brandon Carleton - Rockland T-ball; Lisa Carlton - Rockland T-ball; Kevin Chapman - Tim's Friend; Sam Cousins - Rockland T-ball; Coomenic Cuccinello III - Rockland T-ball; Bill Dawkins - Elwyn Adamson; Harriet Dawkins - Alma Adamson; Robert Demkowicz - Reporter; Deborah Derecktor - Janelle; Ryan Ecker - Rockland T-ball; Alida P. Field - Young Gymnast; Henry Field - Rockland T-ball/Young Frank; The Honorable Joseph Field - Judge; Rachel Freeman - Rockland T-ball; Shyann Gauthier - Rockland T-ball; Gwendolyn Gilchrist - Chorus; Shauneen Grout - Chorus; Brian Hagley - Rockland T-ball; Jackie Hagley - Rockland T-ball; Diane E. Hamlin - Davis' Assistant; Daniel Hendricks - Rockland T-ball; Adah Holman - Chorus; Dale Johnson - Rockland T-ball; Jessie Lanoue - Chorus; Alicia Laplant - Chorus; Iris Leslie - Chorus; Matthew Maxwell - Rockland T-ball; Francis Mazzeo - Rockland T-ball; Elisabeth McClure - Elderly Woman; Jared Mekin - Rockland T-ball; Joshua Mills - Rockland T-ball; Camden Munson - Jason Strout; W. Clapham Murray - Carl; Chelsea Peasley - Rockland T-ball; Eric Rahkonen - Rockland T-ball; Doug Rich - Fork lift Operator; Natalie Russell - Rockland T-ball; Misty Seekins - Rockland T-ball; Tyler Shane Smith-Campbell - Rockland T-ball; Parker Spear - Rockland T-ball; Philip Spearing - Rockland T-ball; Ben Staples - Rockland T-ball; Owen Thompson - Rockland T-ball; Erica Towle-Powers - Chorus; Mackenzie Tucker - Rockland T-ball; Jonathan Walsh - Father McCasslin; Evanne Weirich - Director; Frank T. Wells - Henry; Nichole Wimbiscus - Chorus; Robin Wimbiscus - Performance Coordinator; Anna Winsor - Chorus; Harold Withee - Grocery Clerk; Ron Russell - Rockland T-ball; Samuel Johnson - Rockland T-ball
Credit
Caleb Snyder - Boom Operator, Randi Hiller - Casting, Belinda Monte - Casting, Serena Rathbun - Consultant/advisor, Tim Williams - Co-producer, Melissa Economy - Costume Designer, Danny Stillman - First Assistant Director, Dan Stillman - First Assistant Director, Todd Field - Director, Frank Reynolds - Editor, Ted Hope - Executive Producer, John Penotti - Executive Producer, Stephen Dembitzer - Executive Producer, Penn Sicre - Executive Producer, Sally Harper - Hair Styles, Sandy Shapiro - Location Manager, Kathryn Smith - Location Manager, Thomas Newman - Composer (Music Score), Bob Harper - Makeup, Terri Harper - Makeup, Michael Genne - Camera Operator, Antonio Calvache - Cinematographer, Todd Field - Producer, Ross Katz - Producer, Graham Leader - Producer, Mark Narramore - Recording, Brian Ricci - Special Effects, Edward Tise - Sound/Sound Designer, Lisa Varetakis - Sound Editor, Edward Tise - Sound Recordist, Andre Dubus - Screen Story, Todd Field - Screenwriter, Rob Festinger - Screenwriter, Michael Genne - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Adam Carroll - Production Assistant, Gwendolyn Cooper - Production Assistant, Shanon Dilloway - Production Assistant, Caitlin Feeley - Production Assistant, Jake Fleming - Production Assistant, Annie Lynch - Production Assistant, Peter McDonald - Production Assistant, Elaine McFarland - Production Assistant, Zachary Miner - Production Assistant, Gregg Molander - Production Assistant, Sebastian Salomo - Production Assistant, Eleda Wacker - Production Assistant, Julia Ziegler-Haynes - Production Assistant, Soso R. Whaley - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Bill Bernstein - Music Editor, Anne Nevin - Production Coordinator, Mary Feuer - Production Supervisor, Per Melita - Production Supervisor, Chris Jenkins - Re-Recording Mixer, Frank A. Montaño - Re-Recording Mixer, Virginia Saenz McCarthy - Script Supervisor, Eric Yellin - Second Assistant Director, William M. Riley - Supervising Sound Editor, Susan Parsons - Assistant Production Coordinator, Bruce Greenspan - Dialogue Editor, John Roesch - Foley Artist, Warner Hollywood - Foley Artist, John Finn - Post Production Accountant, Tanoa Parks - Production Accountant, Sig Libowitz - Production Executive, Andre Dubus - Book Author
Upon its release the film was internationally praised for its direction, script, and actor's performances. It went on to become the highest grossing non-IMAX film in history to never reach the top 10 in a given week.[1]
The film is set in Mid-Coast Maine. The story concerns a young man, Frank Fowler (Stahl), who is in love with an older woman with children, Natalie Strout (Tomei). Fowler is applying to graduate school for architecture but contemplating staying in town, working in the fishing industry to be near Natalie. Natalie's ex-husband, Richard Strout (Mapother), is violent and abusive.
Midway through the movie Richard kills Frank during a confrontation at Natalie's house, following a domestic dispute. Richard is set free on bail, which causes Frank's parents, Dr. Matt Fowler (Wilkinson) and Ruth Fowler (Spacek), a choir conductress, to become increasingly angry at seeing Richard running around town. Their anger grows when they learn that the lack of a direct witness to their son's shooting allows the killer to avoid murder charges, since the district attorney may have difficulty proving that Richard killed Frank intentionally, as opposed to accidental manslaughter in a struggle (as the defense would likely argue). Later, Dr. Fowler, believing the court system cannot bring justice for his son, hatches and executes a plan with a friend to abduct and kill Richard. The title refers to the rear compartment of a lobster trap known as the "bedroom" and the fact that it can only hold up to two lobsters before they begin to turn on each other.
One reviewer wrote that Todd Field's "secure grasp of the region and its flinty personalities combine to charge In the Bedroom with the ominous inevitability of Sophoclean tragedy."[3]
