In The Bedroom, the movie

the soundtrack is really beautiful. the way it elevates the bustle of all the little things is intoxicating -- the leaves, the grass, the boats and fishing machinery, the bridge.

from the opening sequence of the 2 lovers in the grass, the film introduces the stylistic theme of quiet drama; the tall blades of grass stir around them, the winds underlining their conversation suggestively.

this subtlety is what makes the tragic climax of the movie so painful to watch.

sorry, i thought it was boring

^^^

insanity!

total insanity.

u just xoxo nick stahl

i mean, true, but definitely not the whole story -- the rest of the cast is surely nothing to be bored with, either!

also, big points for having the bulgarian women's choir's music in it

I fell asleep halfway through (and I love me some Dubus).

i dont remember anything about this movie except that i told my girlfiend i wanted to spend my life with her over drinks after seeing it.

she brought it up over and over when we were breaking up.

Over-determined within an inch of its life, and probably should have dumped some Dubus, but it's mighty impressive -- at least in 2001. Sissy Spacek should have won the Oscar.

ya. she was amazing. really.

it was almost like she was trying to help her character, or other people like her, by investing herself so thoroughly in the role. v convincing.

Movies Based on a Premise That Is Extremely Ridiculous

Death Wish + NPR

"spend my life with her over drinks"

sadly otm

Isn't In The Bedroom about a family coping with the loss of a child?

If so, I don't think I can see it.

I really loved this when it came out. I haven't seen it since, and remember almost nothing about it.

t/s: this movie vs. ordinary people

i loved this movie

if it's Timothy Hutton vs Nick Stahl, I'll take the second-place winner with dessert, please.

Hated it, but maybe I shouldn't have watched it alone on Christmas Day, 2001.

I saw this when it came out... I thought it was okay, but was kinda confused by the ending which seemed condone killing for revenge. I know the movie was exploring complex moralities, but it seemed like in the end the couple was left happier after the dad had shot the guy who killed his son.

Bingo.

Sure it's okay for a movie to depict decent people killing for revenge and becoming happier because of that, but I'd then hope the movie itself to be extremely critical of such choices, even if the characters aren't, and that didn't seem to be the case with In the Bedroom. I though the best parts were the ones about dealing with loss, and the whole revenge thing sorta made an otherwise good movie much worse. Maybe I was kinda underwhelmed by ItB, because not long before I saw it I'd seen The Son's Room, which has a similar theme of a family dealing with a loss of a son, but better made and without such dubious moralities.

No, I agree with your resistance towards the movie for depicting the couple being happier because of their vengeance, though it tries to depict the aftermath with a tad more ambiguity than, say, The Brave One.

how can a "movie itself" be extremely critical? depict something and then have some character preach why it's wrong?

And of course that brings up the point of how horrible it would be if movies always had to "moral" - art makes you feel, makes you decide for yourself about how you feel about dubious situations - they shouldn't tell you how to feel.

i'd like marisa tomei in the bedroom, amirite??

and the couple are far from "happy" at the end! Wilkinson in particular looks wasted, years older.

yeah, I think it's nuts to say they're happier. The film still is foul.