Rating: 
Summary: Interesting ....
Review: Marissa Tomei gives a wonderful performance in In the Bedroom. She is the best thing in the movie. I thought the script was slow, and unbelievable in the end. And though I love Sissy Spacek, I felt her character just was not deep or complex enough.
It is an interesting story, but it could have been told in a much more intense manner.
Rating:
Summary: very compelling performances from a top-drawer cast...
Review: Todd Field's directorial debut, IN THE BEDROOM is an absorbing look at the different sides of grief and the choices people make in their lives under very trying circumstances.I won't go into detail on the events of the film, as you've likely already read it from other reviews, or from interviews with the cast and director. Rather, I'd like to mention the extraordinary performances by the ENTIRE cast of the principal characters, especially Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, and the not-seen-enough Marisa Tomei, who turns in what is likely to be one of her strongest on-screen roles. The story's ultimate outcome, though not entirely surprising given the events that lead to the climax, is nonetheless very disturbing and leaves you feeling uneasy. Highly recommended and congratulations to all the Oscar nominees for this film!
Rating: 
Summary: A Brooding, slowpaced triumph
Review: Anyone who dismisses this film as boring must have the attention span of a 2 year old. This film isn't about Hollywood gadgetry, it's more of an independant movie. (If you do not know what an independant film is, or haven't seen many, you'll probably dislike this film.) The film has fine performances all around. It takes you through a tale of anguish of an elder couple. It accurately portrays the day to day life of this common family. Many people have remarked that the charachters are boring. THe charachters aren't boring their regular, everyday people. You can relate this couple to your neighbors, or even to your own family. That, is where the sheer power of this film comes from. The realization that such a tragedy can happen to anybody. Thanks to the acting the film seems as real as can be.
Rating: 
Summary: Why is this film rated so highly?
Review: I must have missed something here because this is one of the most boring films I've ever had the misfortune to sit through. The characters are credible, which is about the only good thing I can say about the film. It trudges on, relentlessly, mind-numbingly, towards a flat, predictable ending that arrives about an hour late.
It's a cinematic sleeping pill, the only reason I didn't walk out was because I paid good money to see it. An awful film that barely rates as good enough for daytime tv in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: dry as toast....
Review: ... with the exception of superb performances from the lead actors here, we have nothing so much as to praise here and this has to be one of the most overrated films of 2001. had it not been for the performances, i don't think i would've rated this film a full three stars as i'm not usually fond of tv movies which is what in the bedroom resembles. i was so disappointed after seeing this film that i almost want to tell how it ends just to keep people from spending hard earned money on movie seats. wait for video and get this from your local [video store]. plan on watching this on while you are fully awake or you might find yourself sleeping throughout the entire film. as i stated earlier, in the bedroom is dry as toast.
Rating:
Summary: An excruciating experience
Review: One has to wonder just what film was the director trying to make. It starts as a lively, entertaining study of family dynamics. Then it shifts to a long, interminably boring segment that's supposed to be a study of grief but is, in reality, just a long series of under-directed vignettes that all fade to black and give absolutely no motivation whatsoever for what follows. And what follows is yet another wrenching, inexplicable shift into the vigilante/revenge genre. ... When there are some film-makers out there that really know how to tell a story, who do critics go ga-ga over a film-maker who largely depends on the audience to fill in the emotion he can't seem to put on the screen?
Rating: 
Summary: I Don't Get It
Review: With the exception of "Moulin Rouge," this may very well be the most overrated film of the year. The first half moves along convincingly enough. Tragedy is handled well and the acting is superb. But when Tom Wilkinson's character actually begins to carry out his vengeance, the film gets boring----this is one of the only movies I can think of that gets more boring as it picks up speed. Watching the boiling anguish and suffering on the faces of Marisa Tomei and Sissy Spacek kept me interested for a while, but both women disappear for large portions of the film. A solid enough movie----but one of the best of the year?.....
Rating:
Summary: The actors' film of 2001.
Review: "In The Bedroom" is truly a stunning and shattering motion picture. It is definitely an actors' movie. The acting performances make up for the lack of action, special effects, thrills and chills, and basically everything else that most of the other Hollywood blockbusters have these days. The dialouge and plot is really good, and "In The Bedroom" should get this year's Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Heck--it deserves Best Picture! The film, "In The Bedroom", centers around two families living in the small suburban town of Camden, Maine. Director Todd Field decided to concentrate more on what happens to the families during the aftermath of the tragedy, rather than how the tragedy came to be. Yes, it was slow-paced. Yes, the ending just sort of stopped and left you with a cliffhanger. But it had meaning. It made you think. And most people, for some reason, are afraid to think while watching movies these days. Most movie audiences want the movie to think FOR you...so they don't have to do anything but just sit there and let the magic of Hollywood blast you off into the deep ends of imagination. In the beginning of "In The Bedroom", we meet Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl), a young aspiring architect who is going to college in the fall. But for now, he works part-time on a lobster boat, fishing for lobsters. He is the all-around good American boy who'd make any parent proud: has a career and future set for himself, is going to college, is a good student, is clean-cut, has a way with the ladies, etc. But Frank is also going through what he calls a "summer fling" with an older woman, Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei), who is more "experienced", has two young sons, and has recently separated from her violent, abusive husband, Richard Strout. In the first few minutes of the film, you see Frank and Natalie running in a field (don't worry--I'm not giving anything away), and making love in the tall grass. Next, you meet Frank's parents--Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson), who works full-time as a lobsterman, if that's what you want to call it, and Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek), who works as the choir teacher for the town's church. Both are very respected in the town of Camden. Matt and Ruth are both very proud of Frank; they treat him like he's the most important thing in the world to them...even more important than each other. The know about Frank's "fling" with Natalie, and both have different opinions of it. Matt, thinks it's okay, as long as Frank doesn't do anyting stupid like get her pregnant. He even secretly thinks Frank scored big time because he thinks Natalie is hot. Ruth doesn't like this relationship at all. She thinks Frank should spend more time concentrating on his future rather than spending time with Natalie. When Richard Strout finds out about the affair Frank is having with his wife, he is outraged. He still thinks Natalie and the children belong to him--and doesn't like another man getting too close to her. So one day, when Frank is at Natalie's house, Richard trespasses onto her property and invites himself into her house. Richard and Frank get into a huge argument when Natalie wants Richard to leave but Richard refuses. Frank tells Natalie to take the kids upstairs and no soon after does Natalie hear the shot of a gun. She runs downstairs to find Frank dead--shot in the head. And Richard has a gun. Richard bursts out of the house and takes off. Later, after the parents find out about Frank's murder, they go to court and Richard is proven innocent. Ruth and Matt are in complete shock that Frank's murderer has been let loose--they want him to pay for what he did to their son, but in different ways. Now, Ruth, Matt, and Natalie all grieve for Frank. There is a lack of communication between Matt and Ruth, and Ruth begins to blame Frank's death on Natalie. It is such a powerful drama. The scene that shocked me the most was when Natalie came up to Ruth as she was in the church to try and talk to her. Then instead, of listening to Natalie, Ruth slaps her hard across the face! Sissy Spacek truly deserves to win the Oscar for Best Actress. Wilkinson is also excellent, but it is Spacek who steals the show. Marisa Tomei is wonderful in a supporting role, and does her best with the limited amount of screen time that she has. Nick Stahl proves to be more than just "eye candy" in teen films like "Disturbing Behavior" and proves that he can act...one of the best performances by a young actor in 2001. And the man who played Richard Strout (I forget his name...all I can remember is that he is Tom Cruise's cousin), is very good, too. The film has a surprising, shocker kind of ending to it. I don't see why so many people disliked it. I loved it and thought it was great and truly an original, unique film. This film is way too intense for young viewers. So parents, don't let your children see this film! "In The Bedroom" is the must-see film of 2001. I can't wait for the DVD release so I can buy it on DVD. This film is not to be missed!
Rating:
Summary: THE DARK SECRET OF THE LOBSTER
Review: This film boasts mostly a social agenda for stiffer laws in our American court system. Our sympathy is placed firmly in the film's grasp by the tragic event that occurs early in the film and we're forced fed a made-for-tv-like topical melodrama, filmed rather unconvincingly with an art house movie glow. Given the unbelievably pat reaction from the court concerning a dangerous felon, the actions of the survivors of a violent crime are justified. It becomes a movie of revenge for psychological survival and rises a bit above the common social platform it springs from. Watching it is like reluctantly attending a funeral. It's discomforting yet demanding of your participation.
Rating:
Summary: Dismal, Depressing & Dreary
Review: A doctor who didn't care for his job, a wife who taught joyless music to students who never laughed in her presence or spoke to her. A son who didn't bother to show up for his interview to get into graduate school but got a call from the head of the architectural department raving about his models. He gets shot and the parents miss him so much that they honor him by killing his killer. Why was this depressing movie hoisted onto an unsuspecting public. I asked a friend if she had seen any good movies lately and she said had seen a terrible movie. Guess what?
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