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Bitter
Lessons
Class
and murder in a small town.
By Lois
Wadsworth
IN THE BEDROOM: Directed
by Todd Field. Written by Rob Festinger and Todd Field, based on a
story by Andre Dubus. Produced by Graham Leader, Ross Katz, Todd Field.
Executive producers, Ted Hope, John Penotti. Cinematography, Antonio
Calvache. Editor, Frank Reynolds. Music, Thomas Newman. Costumes,
Melissa Economy. Starring Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl
and Marisa Tomei, with William Mapother, William Wise and Celia Weston.
Miramax Films, 2001. R. 126 minutes.
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Matt
(Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek).
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First-time director and co-writer Todd Field made his film debut
as an actor in Victor Nuñez' 1993 film, Ruby in Paradise,
a low-key production that examines the ordinary lives of its working-class
characters. More recently Field played the piano player in Stanley Kubrick's
1999 Eyes Wide Closed, a lavish drama about a wealthy married
couple tempted and tortured by the possibility of infidelity. For his
first film, Field has chosen to illuminate the emotional lives of a
long-married, middle-class couple, Matt (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth Fowler
(Sissy Spacek), who live in a small Maine community where lobstering
forms the backbone of the economy.
Field's quiet, disturbing character study focuses
on the Fowlers -- he's a doctor, she's a music teacher --
but it also measures Camden's class demarcations. Nestled around a
picturesque bay and bordered by a powerful river, the bucolic town
is home to working men and women who have fewer obvious options than
the Fowler's 21-year old son, Frank (Nick Stahl). It's the summer
before Frank returns to the Ivy League school where he's studying
architecture, a summer he's spent running a lobster boat and spending
every free minute with single parent Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei)
and her two boys.
Frank's fallen in love with Natalie, and he's thinking
about staying over the winter and settling down. Natalie supports
her family by clerking in a convenience store. She has separated from
her ill-tempered husband, Richard (William Mapother), who works in
the Strout family's lobster-processing business. Natalie is somewhat
older than Frank, but her age is the least of Ruth's worries.
It's a blue-sky day for a cookout, and the Fowlers
are holding a birthday party for one of Natalie's children. Matt's
poker buddy and best friend, Willis Grinnel (William Wise), and his
wife, Katie (Celia Weston) are present. Everyone's standing around,
drinking beer and chatting, but a chill settles over the gathering
when Natalie's ex, Richard, arrives unannounced. Ruth picks up on
the scent of danger in the air like a bloodhound.
The barbecue takes place about an hour into the film,
and in the remaining hour the happiness of that day disintegrates
violently as anger, grief and the urge for revenge takes over the
Fowlers, exposing the tangled roots of their relationship and questioning
the basis of love itself. The film's core meaning is beautifully expressed
in a poem (perhaps William Blake) recited by one of the poker game
regulars. It's a lovely scene.
I'm not entirely persuaded by the film's ending, but
like the everyday characters in Sam Raimi's 1999 film, A Simple
Plan, the characters here show that they, too, are capable of
unpredictable, life-altering acts. In the Bedroom's bitter
lessons are unleavened by optimism. It asks hard ethical questions
viewers won't easily evade.
Wilkinson is unerringly excellent. An underrated British
actor, he has given memorable performances in a variety of films,
from The Full Monty and Shakespeare in Love to The
Patriot. Here he becomes the haunted, forlorn father who cannot
grieve in front of others. Spacek is less lovable as Ruth, a tightly
wound woman who wanted to live her unrealized ambitions through her
son's accomplishments, but she reaches great depths. Tomei's heartbreaking
portrayal of Natalie is her most challenging work. These characters
are all caught in the terrible trap that violence springs on ordinary
lives.
In the Bedroom is now playing at Cinemark.
It appears on many top 10 lists and is a serious contender for major
awards. Highest recommendations.
Back to top
Paradox
An elegant
solution, but wrong.
By Lois
Wadsworth
A BEAUTIFUL MIND: Directed
by Ron Howard. Written by Akiva Goldsman, based on the book by Sylvia
Nasar. Produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard. Executive producers,
Karen Kehela, Todd Hallowell. Cinematography, Roger Deakins. Production
design, Wynn Thomas. Editors, Mike Hill, Dan Hanley. Costumes, Rita
Ryack. Music, John Horner. Starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly,
Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany. With Adam Goldberg,
Josh Lucas, Anthony Rapp, Judd Hirsch. Universal Pictures, 2001. PG-13.
129 minutes.
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Professor
John Nash (Russell Crowe) and MIT physics student, Alicia Laude
(Jennifer Connelly) meet and fall in love..
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This complex tale is based loosely on the life of a still-living,
Nobel Prize-winning mathematician, John Nash, as reported in Sylvia
Nasar's biography of Nash. But critics who have read Nasar's book tell
what Akiva Goldsman and Ron Howard's screenplay leaves out, and it's
a lot -- Nash's child by a woman he abandoned to poverty; the divorce
by his wife, Alicia, at the height of his psychotic breakdown and their
remarriage years later; his alleged bisexuality; the loss of his top-secret
security clearance; the mental illness of his and Alicia's son, John.
Here's the dilemma: how to acknowledge that the film's
biographical pretext omits important particulars while recognizing
that it tells a good story. If we remove the need for the film to
be true-to-life, then those promoting the film should admit that its
basis in John Nash's life story is only intermittently true. Throwing
out the real-life aspect of the film still leaves us with a beautifully
designed story, complete within its selected limitations. A Beautiful
Mind is a creative combination of fact and fantasy, much like
the way director Ron Howard choses to show how schizophrenia blends
seamlessly its victim's multiple realities.
One of the film's strongest features is a fiercely
reticent performance from Russell Crowe as Nash, played as a brilliant
man who desires uninterrupted time to think about big problems that
mathematics can solve. Logical to a fault, Nash is the ultimate dreamer.
He cannot tend to the ordinary world, nor can he successfully take
part in everyday social interactions with other people.
Despite these constraints, Nash has an ebullient,
loyal friend in his college roommate, Charles (Paul Bettany), and
he meets and marries an exceedingly beautiful graduate student, Alicia
(Jennifer Connelly), who loves him. He also develops an economic theory
that will win the Nobel Prize some 45 years later. And he finds patterns
in apparently random number strings, which makes him very good at
breaking codes. When paranoid schizophrenia erupts in Nash's life,
it comes in the midst of top-secret experimental work he's performing
for a Cold War CIA operative, Parcher (Ed Harris).
Later we realize that the disease has been invisibly
undermining Nash's ability to select a reality recognized by others.
His altered state devastates Alicia, who is pregnant with their child,
and his co-workers, who want to help him. But for him, the greatest
loss is his vocation, a profound loss for a man whose primary life
exists in his mind and his research.
Connelly's performance commands your attention whenever
she's onscreen. She brings strength and stability to her work with
Crowe in the film's difficult passages, tenderness and conviction
to their romance. Connelly translates the intensity of her courageous
portrayal of a drug addict's degradation in Darren Aronosfsky's Requiem
for a Dream (2000) into that of a wife who helps her husband recover
from a terrible mental illness. She deserves attention for this radiant
accomplishment.
A Beautiful Mind is now playing at Cinemark.
Highest recommendations.
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OPENING
OR RETURNING:
Films open the Friday following date of EW
publication unless otherwise noted.
1984: Great 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's
bleak futuristic novel stars John Hurt and Richard Burton. R. At 7
pm on 1/17 in 180 PLC. Free.
Black Hawk Down: Ridley Scott directs this
true story based on the mission-gone-wrong of American special forces
in Somalia, 1993. Stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Ron Eldard and
Sam Shepard. AFI award for best picture, 2001. R. Cinemark. Cinema
World.
Casablanca (1942): Everybody's favorite WWII
movie, directed by Michael Curtiz stars the beautiful Ingrid Bergman
and the droll, lovable Humphrey Bogart. PG. At 12 noon on 1/20 at
OFAM, 104 W. Broadway. Free.
Citizen Kane (1941): Orson Welles' classic
drama about newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst stars Welles
and Joseph Cotton. At 10 am on 1/19 at OFAM, 104 W. Broadway. Free.
Domestic Disturbance: John Travolta ex-wife's
new husband is a con man, and Travolta's 11-year old son watched him
murder someone. With Vince Vaughn. PG-13. Movies 12.
Dresser, The (1983): Peter Yates directs Albert
Finney and Tom Courtenay in this backstage drama set during a WWII
theatrical tour. PG. At 6:30 pm on 1/19 at Lorane Grange Hall. (541)
767-0046. $8 donation.
Family Resemblances (France): At 7 pm on 1/23
in 122 Pacific Hall. Free.
Good War, The: Documentary about conscientious
objectors during WWII. At 7 pm on 1/18 in 180 PLC. Sliding scale.
I Am Sam: Sean Penn plays a mentally-challenged
single parent raising his daughter. Michelle Pfeiffer plays an attorney
who takes his case when the girl is put in foster care by social services.
PG-13. Sneak 7:30 1/19. Cinemark.
Les Rendezvous de Paris (France): At 7 pm on
1/24 in 122 Pacific Hall. Free.
Out Cold: Guys on snowboards. Comedy adventure
flick stars Jason London and a lot of other people you won't know.
Snowboard champions perform daring stunts. PG-13 Movies 12.
Red Pony, The (1949): Film adaptation of John
Steinbeck's classic drama about a boy and his pony stars Myrna Loy,
Robert Mitchum and Beau Bridges. At 2 pm on 1/19 at OFAM, 104 W. Broadway.
Free.
Snow Dogs: Brian Levant directs Cuba Gooding
Jr. in this Disney tale of a man who goes to Alaska to claim his inheritance
-- a team of sled dogs with their own minds. With James Coburn,
M. Emmet Walsh and Graham Greene. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Western (France): "Funny, extended road trip,"
says Videohound's Golden Retriever. At 7 pm on 1/22 in 122
Pacific. Free.
CONTINUING
Ali: Will Smith plays Muhammad Ali in Michael
Mann's (The Insider) film about the legendary fighter. Also
stars Jon Voight, Giancarlo Esposito, Mario Van Peebles and many others
in a drama that follows one of the most controversial sports hero
of our time. Brilliant film, true to Ali's spirit; biting in its exploration
of racism, 1964-1974. Very highest recommendations. R. Cinemark. Cinema
World. See review.
Amelie: Jean Pierre Jeunet's popular hit film
about a shy young French pixie who meddles in the lives of her co-workers,
family and neighbors instead of looking at her own need for love.
Too sugary sometimes, this little fairy tale has just enough gravity
to stay grounded. Fabulous. R. Bijou. See
review.
Beautiful Mind, A: Inspired by the true story
of a mathematical genius whose great discovery came early in his career,
Ron Howard's film stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
Crowe plays the man who battled his demons for many years yet fulfilled
his promise late in life. Stunning work by Crowe and Connelly. Highly
recommended. PG-13. Cinemark. See review.
Behind Enemy Lines: John Moore directs this
military drama, which has Gene Hackman as a naval officer and Owen
Wilson as the hot dog pilot who sees where the bodies are buried in
a war-ravaged country. He's shot down, and some soldiers are after
him. PG-13. Movies 12.
Black Knight: Martin Lawrence stars in Gil
Junger's comedy about a theme park called Medieval World with a portal
that opens into England of the 1300s. You know who crawls through
and has to live by his wits. PG-13. Movies 12.
Gosford Park: Robert Altman's comedy of manners
set upstairs and downstairs in a 1932 English country house features
fine performances by an all-star ensemble cast that includes Kristen
Scott Thomas, Jeremy Northam, Helen Mirren, Kelly Macdonald, Alan
Bates, Emily Watson, Michael Gambon and Maggie Smith. Splendid look
at class warfare, with a nasty, satiric edge. AFI Awards best director
to Altman. Highest recommendations. R. Bijou. See
review.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Early
reviews say it is utterly faithful to J.K. Rowling's book, which can
either be a good thing or not. Stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,
John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane and more. Directed by Chris Columbus.
PG. Cinema World. Cinemark. See
review.
Impostor: In a future world engineer/inventor
Gary Sinise is suspected of being an alien close. Madeleine Stowe
is his girlfriend. Directed by Gary Fleder. PG-13. Cinemark.
In the Bedroom: One of the best of 2001, this
intimate domestic drama stars Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson and Marisa
Tomei. First-time director Todd Field adapted the film from an Andre
Dubus' story. The New York Times wrote: "it is an astonishingly
rich, detailed and grimly moving piece of work." AFI Awards best actor
to Spacek. R. Cinemark. See review.
Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: Animated tale of
an inventive 10-year old boy and his robot dog who live in a world
where wishes come true. Jimmy wishes his parents would disappear.
When all the parents disappear, Jimmy and his pals have to bring them
back. G. Cinemark. Cinema World.
joesomebody: John Pasquin directs Tim Allen
as a divorced father whose workplace humiliation in front of his daughter
pushes him to change his life. Also stars Kelly Lynch, Jim Belushi,
Julie Bowen, and Greg Germann. PG. Movies 12.
K-PAX: Ian Softley (Wings of the Dove)
directs Jeff Bridges, who plays a psychiatrist, and Kevin Spacey's
the patient who says he's from another planet. The good doctor notices
changes for the better in the other mental ward patients. PG-13. Movies
12.
Kate and Leopold: Sappy looking time travel
romance stars Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, who has been accidentally
fast forwarded to New York at the present from the 19th century. James
Mangold (Girl, Interrupted) directs. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema
World.
Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring:
The first book in J. R. R. Tolkien's literary trilogy reaches the
screen, directed by the talented Peter Jackson and shot entirely in
New Zealand as Middle Earth. Stars Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian McKellen
as Gandalf, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, with Liv Tyler, Sean Astin,
Christopher Lee. See why so many people love the book. Highest recommendations.
PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. See
review.
Majestic, The: Jim Carrey plays a blacklisted
Hollywood writer who loses his memory after a car crash but finds
a new life in a 1950s small town. Directed by Frank Darabont (The
Green Mile). Bob Balaban is a Commie-hunter with HUAC, Martin
Landau is the owner of the local movie theater, and Laurie Holden's
the girl. Eugene's David Ogden Stiers also stars. PG. Cinemark.
Monsters Inc.: From Pixar, the creators of
Toy Story, comes a new computer-animated feature about a scare
factory, Monsters Inc., and its top monster, Sulley (voice of John
Goodman). Also voices of Billy Crystal, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly,
Steve Buscemi and Mary Gibbs. G. Cinemark. See
review.
Ocean's Eleven: Steven Soderbergh's remake
of the old Rat Pack's '60s heist movie stars George Clooney, Matt
Damon, Julia Roberts. Brad Pitt and Andy Garcia. This gang plans to
hit several Las Vegas casinos on the same night, while everyone's
distracted by a high-profile boxing match. Soderbergh never disappoints,
and he's assembled great players. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark. See
review.
One, The: A dual role for Jet Lin who straddles
parallel universes - one where he's good, the other where he's evil.
A rogue agent is loose in multiple universes and must be stopped.
Also stars Delroy Lindo. PG-13. Movies 12.
Orange Country: Colin Hanks and Jack Black
star in Jake Kasdan's teen comedy about a transcript mix-up. PG-13.
Cinemark. Cinema World.
Riding in Cars with Boys: Drew Barrymore stars
in Penny Marshall's film about a woman who wants to be a writer but
ends up with a baby at 15 and a junkie husband. Based on a true story.
With Steve Zahn and Brittany Murphy. PG-13. Movies 12.
Royal Tennenbaums, The: Directed by Wes Anderson
(Rushmore), this critically acclaimed film looks at a family
of geniuses that's undergone two decades of failure, betrayal and
disaster. Gene Hackman is the family patriarch, Royal; Angelica Huston
plays his wife, Etheline. Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow
are their grown children. Also with Danny Glover, Bill Murray and
Owen Wilson. AFI Awards best actor Hackman. Highest recommendations.
R. Cinemark. See
review.
Serendipity: Destiny has them meet by chance
in a department story, and fate parts them right away. Now it's 10
years later, and John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale try to find each
other again. Directed by Peter Chelsom (Town & Country).
PG-13. Movies 12.
Shallow Hal: Jack Black plays a neurotic womanizer
who gets hypnotized into seeing women's inner beauty for the Farrelly
brothers. But he sees right through Gwyneth Paltrow's fat suit. Word
is the Farrellys are uncharacteristically good humored. Hmmm. PG-13.
Movies 12.
Spy Game: Robert Redford is a CIA officer who
mentors Brad Pitt in this spy thriller directed by Tony Scott (Enemy
of the State). Also stars Catherine McCormack. R. Movies 12.
Thirteen Ghosts: Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis
produced this special effects remake of a 1960 horror film that stars
Tony Shalhoub, Embeth Davidtz and Matthew Lillard. They're given keys
to a fantastic house that contains the spirits of 13 murder victims.
R. Movies 12.
Vanilla Sky: Cameron Crowe directs this erotic
thriller starring Tom Cruise as a publishing executive who's misplaced
his soul. Entertaining but twisted tale of mutable identities, irreconcilable
temporal dislocations and mystifying parallel stories also stars Penélope
Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee and Timothy Spall. Highly
recommended. R. Cinemark. See
review.
MOVIE
THEATERS
Use the links provided below for specific show times.
Bijou
Art Cinemas
Bijou Theater 686-2458 | 492 E. 13th
Regal
Cinemas
Cinema World 342-6536 | Valley River
Center
Springfield Quad 726-9073 |
Cinemark
Theaters
Movies 12 741-1231 | Gateway
Mall
Movies before 12:30 are Sat. Sun. only. $1.50 all shows all days.
Cinemark 17 741-1231 | Gateway Mall
NEW
RELEASES ON VIDEO:
Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following
date of EW publication, sometimes sooner:
Blonde, The: Sergio Rubin directs Natassja Kinski and himself
in this 1992 tale of a driver in Italy who knocks down a woman. She
loses her memory, he falls in love with her, and her memory comes
back. NR.
Kiss of the Dragon: Jet Li action thriller
co-stars Bridget Fonda. Directed by Chris Nahon, it's set in Paris
where Li is wrongly accused of murder, and Fonda has been forced into
prostitution. R
Rock Star: Mark Wahlberg plays with a local
tribute band until he's called to replace the lead singer he worships.
With Jennifer Aniston, Jason Flemyng, Timothy Olyphant, Timothy Spall
and Dominic West. Recommended. R. See
review.
Next week: Atlantis The Lost Empire, Muhammad
Ali Through the Eyes of the World and Rat Race.
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