In the Bedroom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from In the bedroom)
Jump to: navigation, search
In the Bedroom

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Todd Field
Produced by Todd Field
Ross Katz
Graham Leader
Screenplay by Todd Field
Robert Festinger
Based on Killings by
Andre Dubus
Starring Tom Wilkinson
Sissy Spacek
Nick Stahl
Music by Thomas Newman
Cinematography Antonio Calvache
Editing by Frank Reynolds
Studio Good Machine
Eastern Standard Film Company
GreeneStreet Films
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release date(s) November 23, 2001 (2001-11-23)
Running time 130 minutes
138 minutes (Sundance)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1.7 million
Box office $43,368,779

In the Bedroom is a 2001 American crime drama film directed by Todd Field, and dedicated to Andre Dubus, whose short story Killings is the source material on which the screenplay, by Field and Robert Festinger, is based. The film stars Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei, and William Mapother.

The title refers to the rear compartment of a lobster trap known as the "bedroom" and the fact that it can hold two lobsters before they begin to turn on each other.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film is set in Mid-Coast Maine. The story concerns a young man, Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl), who is in love with an older woman with children, Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei). Fowler is applying to graduate school for architecture, but contemplating staying in town and working in the fishing industry, to be near Natalie. Natalie's ex-husband, Richard Strout (William Mapother), whose family owns a local fish-processing and delivery business, is violent and abusive.

Midway through the film, Richard kills Frank during a confrontation at Natalie's house, following a domestic dispute. Richard is set free on bail, paid by his well-to-do family, which haunts Frank's parents, Dr. Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek), a choir director, who grow increasingly angry over seeing Richard around town. Their anger intensifies 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 defense attorney Marla Keyes (Karen Allen) argues. Later, Dr. Fowler, believing the court system cannot bring justice for his son, abducts and kills Richard and disposes of the body, with the help of a friend. Dr. Fowler returns home to his wife.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Critical Reception

Upon its release, the film was internationally praised for its direction, script, and performances, possessing a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes,[1] and a 100 percent rating among the "Cream of the Crop" critics.[1] A.O. Scott included the film in his New York Times essay "The most important films of the past decade — and why they mattered."[2]

"… a genuine modern tragedy. It's also the best movie of the last several years: the most evocative, the most mysterious, the most inconsolably devastating… I could barely breathe; I swore at the screen; I called for blood; I cried for vigilantism to restore the natural order; and I sat in shock when the natural order was and wasn't restored. That's the thing about a masterpiece like In the Bedroom. It isn't over when you leave the theatre. It isn't over when you brood on it for days. It's just always going to be there, in the air…" [3]
David Edelstein, Slate Magazine

"It is apparent that Field has not only studied the masters of cinematic understatement, such as Ozu and Bergman, but that he fully understands their processes. Consequently, this is a film that lives beyond its two hours. Field's achievement is such a perfectly consummated marriage of intent and execution that he need never make another movie. I would not be alone, I think, in hoping he will make many more."[4]
Neil Norman, The Evening Standard

"Like Kubrick, Field's direction manages to feel both highly controlled and effortlessly spontaneous at the same time; and his lifting of the facade of this picturesque, Norman Rockwell setting is carried out with surgical precision… also like Kubrick, Field doesn't make any moral judgments about his characters, and his film remains stubbornly enigmatic. It can be read as a high-class revenge thriller, an ode to the futility of vengeance or almost anything in between.." [5]
William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

[edit] Box office

With the exception of Napoleon Dynamite, In the Bedroom had the largest box office of any film premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in the last decade.[6] The film grossed a worldwide total of $43,368,779.[7]It went on to become the highest-grossing non-IMAX film in history to never reach the top 10 in a given week.[8]

[edit] Accolades

Awards won are in Bold.

  • Academy Awards:
    1. Best Picture
    2. Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson)
    3. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    4. Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei)
    5. Best Screenplay - Adapted (Robert Festinger and Todd Field)
  • BAFTA Awards:
    1. Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson)
    2. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
  • Broadcast Film Critics:
    1. Best Film
    2. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    3. Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei)
  • Chicago Film Critics:
    1. Best Film
    2. Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson)
    3. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    4. Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei)
  • Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics:
    1. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    2. Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei)
  • Florida Film Critics:
    1. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
  • Golden Globe Awards:
    1. Best Film - Drama
    2. Best Actress - Drama (Sissy Spacek)
    3. Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei)
  • Independent Spirit Awards:
    1. Best First Feature
    2. Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson)
    3. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    4. Best Screenplay (Robert Festinger and Todd Field)
  • Los Angeles Film Critics:
    1. Best Film
    2. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
  • National Board of Review:
    1. Best Director (Todd Field)
    2. Best Screenplay (Robert Festinger and Todd Field)
  • New York Film Critics:
    1. Best First Film (Todd Field)
    2. Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson)
    3. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
  • Online Film Critics:
    1. Best Film
    2. Best Director (Todd Field)
    3. Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson)
    4. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    5. Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei)
    6. Best Screenplay - Adapted (Robert Festinger and Todd Field)
    7. Best Breakthrough Filmmaker (Todd Field)
  • Satellite Awards:
    1. Best Film - Drama
    2. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    3. Best Supporting Actress - Drama (Marisa Tomei)
    4. Best Screenplay
  • Screen Actors' Guild Awards:
    1. Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson)
    2. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    3. Best Ensemble Cast
  • Southeastern Film Critics:
    1. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)
    2. Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei)
  • USC Scripter Award:
    1. USC Scripter Award (Robert Festinger and Todd Field (screenwriters);Andre Dubus (author))
  • Vancouver Film Critics' Circle:
    1. Best Actress (Sissy Spacek)

[edit] Film archives

A 35mm safety print is housed in the permanent collection of the UCLA Film & Television Archive[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "In the Bedroom". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_bedroom/?name_order=asc. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
  2. ^ Most important films of the past decade — and why they mattered
  3. ^ Edelstein, David (23 November 2001). "In the Thrall". Slate Magazine. 
  4. ^ Norman, Neil (January 24, 2002). "A fatal summer affair". The Evening Standard. 
  5. ^ Arnold, William (25 December 2001). "Pulling Back the Covers on an Idyllic Life". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 
  6. ^ Ten Grossers At Sundance this Decade
  7. ^ In the Bedroom at Box Office Mojo
  8. ^ Top Grossing Movies That Never Hit the Top 10 at the Box Office
  9. ^ . UCLA Film & Television Archive. 

[edit] External links

Publications
Academic papers
Films directed by Todd Field
Features
Shorts
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=In_the_Bedroom&oldid=476118029"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages