Return to the "POINTER VIEW"
                         March 8, 2002

Her Point: I did not expect "In the Bedroom" to be the movie it is. I did not expect to walk out of the theater and say to Casey, "Wow, that was an excellent movie," and have him respond in kind, "Yeah, it was." I did not expect to even get Casey to see this movie after the failure last week of "Gosford Park." But, it is an Oscar contender and we must be fair to all by seeing the nominees. I am glad we did. The movie starts out with a romp in the grass between Marisa Tomei and Nick Stahl, playing star-crossed lovers Natalie and Frank in the small town of Camden, Maine. So I thought, "Oh no, what have I gotten us into tonight?" But, the movie quickly unfolds into a story of a family’s life, the struggles of marriage and ultimately -- revenge. As I sat in my seat, I felt as if I were watching someone’s homemade movie. I felt invited in and allowed to witness the goings-on behind the bedroom door and at the outdoor family barbecue. I was moved by the performances, but I did not feel as if the actors were even performing in a film. I was just watching a family, their friends and one very angry and disturbed individual, Strout, played frighteningly by William Mapother. Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson play Ruth and Matt Fowler, the parents of Frank. She is the music director at a local high school and he is the local physician. I see he is nominated for Best Actor and I must give that some serious thought, because he blew me away with his performance. At one point during the movie, Casey leaned over and whispered to me that this married couple interacted like we do. I found myself agreeing and perhaps liking the movie a bit more because I could relate to their relationship.

His Counterpoint: The Fowlers resemble us in the sense that I tend to approach issues from a logical standpoint, while Sarah normally takes an emotional bent. They are different, however, in that I could never be married to a woman with taste in music as bad as the Ruth Fowler character. The director spends far too much celluloid showing her direction of pubescent girls singing incredibly annoying eastern European music. I think the producers should have chosen a different title; let’s face it, "In the Bedroom" sounds like some sort of whiny "Sex in the City" type of movie. The opening scene of the "romp," as Sarah calls it, initially seemed to confirm my suspicions. Fortunately, that scene was merely a demonstration of a young graduate student’s "summer fling" with a divorcing thirty-something mother of two; its purpose was to set up the action between the woman’s violent estranged husband and the clean-cut young man.

Her Point: I have warned Casey not to give away this movie, because our friends are always saying we give too much away in our reviews. Most movies have already been reviewed and we don’t have more or less to say about them than any other critic. However, one must see this movie to experience the wholeness of it right to the bittersweet end. The Fowlers’ best friends prove to be just that in times of need and come across on screen as normal people, just like the rest of the cast. William Wise and Celia Weston play the Grinnels. They own land in upstate Maine; he has a beer belly and she could use some serious orthodontia. At one point I knew their estate would become pivotal in the movie, but I didn’t know when or for what purpose. That is what makes this movie so great. It is "a pinch of this" and "a dash of that" blended into a perfect mix that when baked comes out flawless. It isn’t a thriller, but it is thrilling. It isn’t a suspenseful movie, but it suspends the audience at times. I think it really is a movie about the struggle of relationships and marriages, with some violence thrown in and a little surprise ending. It is an ending my husband and his friends doubtlessly have no problem with, and neither did I.

His Counterpoint: I think Sarah’s point about beer guts and bad teeth proves the characters are "real people." They are so ordinary, one can imagine having them for neighbors. The exception to this is Spacek. She will always be "Carrie" to me, so I wouldn’t want her next door unless I had a great deal of fire insurance on my household goods. I think the director could have done without a few of his "pinches" and "dashes" when he went to final editing of the film. There were several French-style scenes in which two characters have chance meetings around town and just stare at one another -- but never say anything. If they are not going to engage in any dialogue, leave the shot on the editing room floor. It reminded me of those films I see at foreign film festivals that follow a character walking down the street for seven or eight minutes, not doing or saying anything. It is supposed to be an "artsy" move, but to me it is just annoying.

Her Point: To date, "In the Bedroom" is one of my favorite movies of all time. It flows and ebbs, or maybe the other way around, but who cares? This movie had me crying right up there next to "Terms of Endearment" and "Brian’s Song." It’s the first time Casey has had to physically hold me in the theater to comfort me. Did I laugh? Not a lot. I did not need to laugh in this movie. Hold on to your bedroom door, because this hasn’t happened in a very long time. "In the Bedroom" receives five stars from me.ÙÙÙÙÙ

His Counterpoint: This is a great movie, but it cannot compare to the likes of "The Terminator" or "Gladiator." Nevertheless, the actors are extraordinarily believable and the plot is truly intriguing. If I were a betting man, I would put odds on "In the Bedroom" as this year’s winner for "Best Picture" at the Oscars. I give this powerful emotional roller coaster four stars, but I still think the title sounds too "chick-flickish."ÙÙÙÙ