"In the Bedroom" (2001)

Yes, OP, I remember it as a great film of its type. I would like to see again, even as I recall that it was very difficult to watch.

Yes. Great film. Yes. Not an easy film.

Wilkinson and Spacek really are stellar in this. Very quiet and calm performances with sooooo much bubbling right under the surface. Lesser actors would have played it bigger and lessened the power of the film.

That twist at the end was impressively done. It's a very subtle film about the darker sides of human nature. Hard to re-watch because of all the pain the characters go through though.

One of my favorites, although I haven't watched it in many years.

The use of Serbian/Croatian choral music was a nice touch.

I liked it when it first premiered. I rewatched it recently and LOVED it. Age/perspective really made it so much more meaningful.

Since no one has yet mentioned her, I want to say that I thought Marisa Tomei also gave a beautiful performance in this film.

R7, I agree.

Also… the swing set. The swing set!

R8, I don't have clear memories of the whole film, so I don't know what that means.

There’s what I think is a beautiful visual metaphor involving the main couple assembling a swing set.

Sissy was robbed of an Oscar for a part that demanded a great deal more than Ms.Berry

Complexities of seeking revenge...I remember being riveted by the end and also the VERY end. An incredible film.

The scene where Celia Weston is explaining the concept of the Fast Pass at Disney to Spacks and then breaks down in tears as she feels like she was lording the fact that she had grandkids over her is so sad.

That look on Mapother's face...

R11: Spacek definitely deserved it but I can also see why she was snubbed. She is borderline supporting in In the Bedroom and a lot of the voters might’ve thought category fraud.

Now I want to rewatch it. Echo all positive comments and performances of each actor . Not overplayed. Sickly simplistic facts of human life leading to tragedy . Classic. Reminiscent of Shakespeare , I think but I’m not nearly bright enough to compare it to one of her plays. Maybe some DL person can shed some light

I loved the film when on saw in its initial release, but I'm going to have to try to watch it again, because I'm not sure what twist you all are referring to. Do you mean the second murder?

R16 I don't know if it is Shakespearian per se, but it definitely echoes the structure of a classic Greek tragedy.

R16, I hope this doesn't shock you, but Shakespeare was a man, not a woman.

R7 agreed, Marisa was equally great in this. Everyone in it is at the top of their game. There really is not a whole lot of intricate dialogue in the film—if anything, the dialogue is pretty spare and stripped back. Most of the dramatic tension demands subtlety and nuance from the actors through body language and expression, and they uniformly nailed it. As a whole, it stands as an excellent example of film acting at its absolute best. I think it's a masterpiece.

Two back-to-back stellar moments in the film, for example—no meaningful or hefty dialogue, but the actors' performances speak volumes.

I remember the dialogue being so natural. Like the part at the picnic when Celia Weston asks the priest where he gets his hair cut, and he says "I usually go to Supercuts," and she replies, aghast, "But you can't ask for the same girl at Supercuts!"

R22 the dialogue is very natural and reflects the way that most people speak to each other in everyday life, which makes it feel all the more realistic. In another writer's hands, a screenplay like this could've easily gone down the overly-theatric soap opera route, which would have no doubt cheapened the grit of the story. The same principle is true of the performances. The actors in it are very closely aligned with the writing and make the characters feel like real people. Like R3 said, there are a lot of actors who couldn't have pulled it off.

R17 - it was Spacek's reaction that I saw as the second twist

I love the detail of Wilkinson removing the band aid at the end and examining his finger. It's those details which make a film like this great.

Mapother's murder scene in this is as equally satisfying as it is harrowing. You can feel Wilkinson's satisfaction with the discharge of each bullet from the pistol, but there is also the palpable revulsion and "What have I just done?" that sinks in in the immediate aftermath. A huge range of emotions hangs in the air of the film's final ten minutes despite how quiet the performances are.

[quote]It was Spacek's reaction that I saw as the second twist

I'm sorry, Spacek's reaction to what? The second murder?

R27 - I was trying to be "no spoilers" but I guess it's silly to.

Yes, I meant that she knew about it and was all for it.

I liked how Spacek starts chain-smoking in the film after her son is killed, and is recurrently seen purchasing/carrying packs of Marlboros. It's a minor detail but it signifies something deep. The lingering smoke from her ashtray at the end which rises up behind Wilkinson as he's lying alone in the bed was a nice touch.

Since no one has discussed Nick Stahl yet I will add that I think he was solid in his role, as well. And he was hot.

[Screen shot below is from his nude scene in 'Bully' which came out the same year]:

Todd Field really is a master filmmaker. Three films, all brilliant: In the Bedroom, Little Children, and Tár.

I guess moms can use this film as a textbook example of why young male adults shouldn't date older fraus with children who are not officially divorced from their troglodyte spouses.

Thanks, R28. Nice of you to try to avoid spoilers, but I do think one has to expect them when reading a thread like this. Also, the Wikipedia entry on this movie does describe the entire plot, as is true of many films in many places online.

Sissy Spacek was so good in this. A film that was so well done and one I'll probably never watch again because of its realism.