IMDb > In the Bedroom (2001)
In the Bedroom
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In the Bedroom (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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In the Bedroom (2001) -- US Home Video Trailer from Buena Vista Home Entertainment
In the Bedroom (2001) -- CineMagia.ro - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   19,646 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Andre Dubus (story)
Robert Festinger (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for In the Bedroom on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 January 2002 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
A young man. An older woman. Her ex-husband. Things are about to explode...
Plot:
A New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman with two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband. Then something terrible occurs in this wrenching, emotional drama. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 41 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(42 articles)
Palin had dirty bit cut from her SNL show
 (From AOL - TVSquad. 18 November 2009, 5:08 PM, PST)

Decade in Review: 2001 Top Ten
 (From FilmExperience. 17 November 2009, 8:41 PM, PST)

User Comments:
something's going on in the bedroom more (500 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for some violence and language.
Runtime:
130 min | USA:138 min (Sundance Film Festival)
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Language:
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Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
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Fun Stuff

Trivia:
A scene cut from the final version shows Ruth (Sissy Spacek) and Matt (Tom Wilkinson) watching the film Barry Lyndon (1975) at The Strand Theater in Rockland, Maine on the night of their wedding anniversary. Ruth tells her son Frank (Nick Stahl) "It was the first film your father and I ever saw together." This was intended by director Todd Field as an homage to Stanley Kubrick, whom Field had worked with on Eyes Wide Shut (1999) more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The movie takes place in September (Labor Day event) The baseball game on the radio is between the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves. This would be impossible because the World Series is not played in September and inter-league play ends in July. more
Quotes:
Henry: [both characters talking to Jason] Best part of the cod. The outsiders, they won't touch it. Summer fisherman, well, they're part-timers like Frank here; get in your hair. As many as 80 of them now with licenses. Hmm! Should have put up a sign. Stay in your own backyard, or lose your traps.
Frank Fowler: See, Henry here is just sore 'cause I catch twice as much as he does with an old second-hand Bordreau.
Henry: Now, don't you listen to him, son. That boat is fine. She was my first. I kinda miss her, sometimes. And that truck you're driving. When are you headed back to school, Frank?
[...]
more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Oj Savice more

FAQ

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52 out of 66 people found the following comment useful.
something's going on in the bedroom, 10 December 2002
9/10
Author: Evil_Will_Hunting (brente78@hotmail.com) from Salt Lake City, Utah

9 out of 10

Watching Todd Field's feature film debut `In the Bedroom,' I could not help but be impressed by the sheer audacity of the film, by the spot-on performances, and by the many twists and turns that no critic should reveal. Yet amidst all the film's obvious strengths, there was still something missing-something to tie it all together, something to endow the film with more than just a fleeting impression.

Ironically perhaps, I was provided this missing bit of information not by the film, but by a male audience member sitting at the end of my aisle, trying to explain the point of the film in less than derogatory terms to his female companion.

`You're missing the whole point of the film,' he said. `It was all about men being controlled by women.'

No doubt he read this interpretation from someone else's review of the film (and what a sweet piece of justice it would be if that critic were a woman). It is quite possible that he was not even aware of the ramifications of what he had said. But this man's legitimacy aside, his statement has not left me since, and the film in turn has had the same luck in escaping me.

We are first introduced to Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl, `Bully') and Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei, `My Cousin Vinny'), he a young college student with no immediate plans to settle down, she an older divorcee raising two children. They are in love, though for Frank she is little more than a `summer fling.' Meanwhile Natalie's ex-husband, Richard (William Mapother, `Mission: Impossible 2'), is unwilling to let her out of his life, and begins to be physically abusive to Frank. Frank's parents, Matt (Tom Wilkinson, `The Full Monty') and Ruth (Sissy Spacek, `The Straight Story')-both in top form here-show appropriate concern for their only son, and they intervene in this dangerous love triangle with unexpected twists and tragic results.

The film jumps about in tone from a light romantic romp to a seeming political treatise to a creepy, nocturnal thriller. Some have criticized the film for this alleged inconsistency in tone, slow pacing, and a deliberate ending. But these naysayers have overlooked the point.

Frank may not even really love Natalie, so much as he loves being controlled by her and sating his mother by being with her. Richard becomes a threat to everyone because he is unwilling to let Natalie consider him out of her life; he is a slave to her whim. The resulting tension reveals a rift between Frank's parents, and in particular, his father's actions in the end demonstrate a helpless allegiance to his wife and her command.

Field, who up until now has been primarily an actor (he was the piano player in `Eyes Wide Shut'), understands these important points but does not beat the viewer over the head with them. He presents a reality more raw and true than any other piece of film in recent memory. Yet he does so with a restraint that Hollywood seems to have forgotten. Most of the film's violence is overheard or implied, and only explicitly shown when necessary for the audience to completely understand what has happened. This allows for more subtle details, like a bridgekeeper who must run around in circles to alternate traffic between the road and the sea, to emerge as truly haunting, lasting images.

But `In the Bedroom' is not about any of these things. It is, first and foremost, about its characters. It does not fall prey to plot mechanics, nor does it flinch at exploring even the most sympathetic characters' darkest sides. For this and so many other reasons which are best left discussed behind closed doors between loved ones, `In the Bedroom' succeeds at turning the camera on flawed relationships of all forms, and it is one of the best films of the year.

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