MOVIES THAT RULE: IN THE BEDROOM

In 2001, there were 41 films that grossed over $100 million, reaching blockbuster status. To date, seven of the films grossed over $400 million. The list includes Harry Potter, The Lord Of The Rings, Monsters, Inc., Shrek, Ocean's Eleven, Pearl Harbor, and Hannibal.

Then there was Todd Field's directorial debut In The Bedroom, based on Massachusetts writer Andre Dubus' short story Killings. Upon it's release, the film was internationally praised for it's direction, script, and performances, it possesses a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a 100% rating among the 'Cream Of The Crop Critics'. It went on to become the highest grossing non-IMAX film in history to never reach the top 10 in a given week. Besides Napoleon Dynamite, In The Bedroom had the largest box office of any film premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in the past decade. The New York times proclaimed that it was "One of the most important films of the past decade - and why they mattered." The film was nominated for the following Academy Awards:

· Best Picture

· Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Previously Sourced Material

· Actor in a Leading Role

· Actress in a Leading Role

· Actress in a Supporting Role

...but have you heard of it?

Starring Nick Stahl (Bully, Sin City), Tom Wilkinson (The Patriot, Michael Clayton), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, My Cousin Vinny, and Sissy Spacek (Carrie, JFK) the film is set in mid-coastal Maine, and based around a young man, Frank Fowler (Stahl), who is involved with a older single mother, Natalie Strout (Tomei). Frank is a step above Natalie on the social ladder, with a doctor for a father (Wilkinson), he also possesses a talent with architecture, not to mention a steady income he earns with his job in the fishing industry. Natalie works as a cashier for a local convenience store, and also has a very violent and abusive ex husband, Richard Strout, whose family owns a local fish packing and processing company. Involved in a summer fling, Frank and Natalie are doing their best to make the relationship work, despite Frank's plans to move to college for architecture and Natalie's issues with her ex-husband's threats towards her.

Then something terrible happens - something that I can't explain here without giving away the film, but it deals with the one of the oldest Shakesperean concepts - tragedy. And more important, how to deal with tragedy and angst, and the desire of revenge. Scored by Thomas Newman, who has produced some of the best movie scores of all time (Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Road To Perdition, Revolutionary Road), he leaves no exception here, creating a haunting, poetic, surreal soundscape that matches the theme of the film. If you need two hours of CGI explosions and shoot em' up action scenes to be entertained, then this movie is not for you. But if you want a piece catered towards thinking adults, that throws a concept in your face and forces you to think about it, then check it out. Trailer preview below, or PURCHASE.