****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
"In the Bedroom" was nominated for best picture in 2002 and is clearly one of the best films of the decade. It is a gut wrenching, thought provoking, artistic masterpiece. The direction is superb. You will have a hard time finding a movie with as many great acting performances as this one (it was no surprise to me that this movie was nominated for three acting Oscars).However, this is not for everyone. It is pure drama. Almost more a play than a movie. It does not rely on formulas for maximizing market share. No sex scenes. No likable "goof ball" injected into the script to lighten things up around the heavy story. Very little action. Very little background music, sometimes nothing at all.....just the dialogue between characters and silence in between. I heard one critic say that the silence itself was a character in this movie. You see warts and flaws in all of the characters.What this movie does is stay true to the story and characters, making you feel and experience the emotions that the characters are experiencing, and deliberately grinds at a slow pace. And at the end of the movie you understand why the slow pace was necessary. The circumstances are extraordinary, but very plausible and painfully realistic. Too realistic for some.........I am sure some who watch are made a bit uncomfortable to see a reflection of themselves in the flaws of the movies characters.So if you are interested in a realistic story with great acting, heavy subject matter, and deep conflict, this movie will make you say "Wow". But if that is not your bag, you will not find this film very entertaining.One more point to many of the online critics of "In the Bedroom".......they need to think outside themselves and understand there is a difference between a "bad movie" and a movie that does not entertain you because it is not the type of movie you enjoy. Look, I like realistic movies (such as "In the Bedroom") but I have little interest in fantasies and science fiction. For example, I do not care for any of the Lord of the Rings flicks. However, I acknowledge that these are Oscar worthy movies, that Jackson is a great director, and that Tolkien was a great writer. "In the Bedroom" is a great movie. Even if you do not like "In the Bedroom", you should respect it as a great work of art.
