When Dr. Matt Fowler explains to a little boy the precise methodology behind setting a lobster trap, you just know that Dr. Fowler is going to inevitably, metaphorically, experience the same scenario in his own life. Such is the genius of Todd Field's directorial tour de force In the Bedroom, a film ripe with symbolism, confidence, and unbridled power. You get the feeling that every inch of film will prove to be important.
I wait all year long for movies like In the Bedroom, where one can savour the textures of the characters and the awkward, aching devotion to realism. I wait for a non-Hollywood experience that doesn't insult the average viewer's intelligence, and allows the personalities to re-act as if they were real people and not Idiot Plot Zombies. I wait for acting performances that leave me gasping for more as the credits roll, images that linger as I leave the theatre, and pining feelings for people who never even existed.
Since I myself didn't know a lot about the plot going into the film, it is only appropriate that in this review I leave as much of the story a secret as possible. The way events unfold is such a treat that I daren't spoil it, but here is a brief overview of the elements.
It stars Tom Wilkinson (The Full Monty) as a Maine doctor who has decided against following his father's fisherman footsteps. His wife Ruth (Sissy Spacek) teaches music at a local school, and their only son Frank (Nick Stahl) is an aspiring architect who works by the docks to get by. Frank is involved with Natalie (Marisa Tomei), an older woman with two children and is occasionally visited by an abusive ex-husband (William Mapother). When an unexpected event occurs, all of these characters are profoundly impacted, though some don't necessarily act it at first. The picture concludes on a decisive and ingenius note. While that note may not sit right with all viewers, it is a thoroughly rewarding outcome to an engaging narrative.
Todd Field incorporates several intriguing devices in his direction. For example, in retrospect, a few of the most crucial moments in the story occur offscreen, but it seems as if we'd experienced them firsthand. This is an impressive ability few filmmakers can achieve (Psycho's showers scene, for example, where at no point the knife actually connects with the victim). Another point of interest is that Field allows several points of view to unfold, not just the principle characters. And then there are the cruel realities of daily life after one's world is turned completely upside-down -- seemingly innocent slips of the tongue from other people take on a whole new meaning.
The acting is exceptional. Wilkinson is profoundly effective as a soft-spoken man, suddenly forced to deal with hard-edged issues. Spacek is equally strong as a woman who has never had to question herself, much less answer to others. Tomei, Stahl, and Mapother are as three-dimensional as they come. Each actor has individual scenes that could help catapult him/her to star status (this is particularly true of Mapother as the ex-husband, who could have easily played up a stereotype).
There are many quietly touching moments in this picture, but there are also moments of aggression and rage, violence and pain. That Field can also synchronically co-write pitch perfect dialogue in tandem to these is a sign he is a filmmaker to watch for. On almost every level, In the Bedroom is a perfect film.
