Room Reviews
Claustrophobic beauty
Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 8 May 2023 04:47What could have easily have been told in a lurid, gratuitous way (being inspired by the true-life case of Josef Fritzl) is instead told in a careful and restrained way. There is even an innocence in 'Room', due to its very fascinating decision to tell it from the viewpoint of a five year old, in this case Jack, one that comes off very movingly and gives a sense that there is a little ray of hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. The source material, equally brilliant, is to be thanked here, its author Emily Donoghue adapts it to screen here and none of its power is lost.
Really appreciated the careful and restrained approach to the storytelling in 'Room', and for me and many others it was something different considering the subject. It does though affect some of the pacing in the middle act, where a little of the tension seen in especially the first part is lost a little.
For my tastes too, though it probably did fit the film's younger and more innocent viewpoint it's told from, the music score does lay it on too thick with the treacle.
However, loved how the story was told and its approach. What 'Room' also strongly benefitted from being told this way was that the mother and son relationship was able to shine through and really resonate, which it may not have done as effectively with a heavier tone. And shine through it does, with great charm and poignancy. Also appreciated that none of the characters were painted too black and white, even Old Nick.
Production values are effectively claustrophobic and the nocturnal parts chillingly nightmarish. 'Room' is beautifully directed by someone who understood how claustrophobic thrillers worked, how mother and son bonds do in dire situations do and the ability to combine both to ensure a powerful experience. A directing job that's both unsettling and empathetic. Similarly 'Room' is written with effortless skill and deft thoughtfulness.
Can't find anything to fault the performances. The superb one of Brie Larson, that was a very worthy Oscar (Golden Globe and Bafta too) win in her category, is an obvious starting point, but one mustn't overlook the beyond-his-years turn of young Jacob Tremblay, one of the best child acting performances in recent years, and William H Macy and Joan Allen both giving some of their best work in years. Sean Bridgers also gives much more to what could have been a standard cliché role.
Overall, great powerful film but the somewhat fascinatingly unconventional (for the genre) way the story was told won't work for some. 9/10 Bethany Cox
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Room review
Posted : 5 years, 6 months ago on 25 August 2018 05:57Indeed, an hour into the proceedings the film resolves the superficial side of this dilemma, after a heartbreaking peak into the lives of the two leads (an excellent Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay), only to show us the true psychological fallout that a situation like this would leave in its wake. This is not a true crime drama but an incisive view into the experience of the victims, during and after a crisis. Relief is but an illusion even as their figurative shackles are broken and the weight of a reality that the child had been spared bears down on him while simultaneously hobbling his mother who now feels out of place in a world that moved on without her.
The long reach and strong hold of a life-changing experience is gut-wrenchingly portrayed and not a single character's reactions are sugar-coated. Frustration and empathy often cross paths in the viewer's mind as you make this journey with them but the real stroke of genius is that the filmmaker chose to show all this through the eyes of the child. We are made privy to only the things he sees and hears and left to field the responses and reactions as he does. The results are heartrending at times and downright frightening at others as you experience the aftereffects of the way he was raised and see the only anchor he's known, his mother, succumb to them as well.
Characters drive this moving story and the formidable cast does an amazing job of communicating the desperation, the love, the disgust, and all other emotions that crop up along the way as they seek to move on from a terrible situation into something akin to the status quo.
"Room" is riveting and it never flinches. It can break your heart or mend it; bring you to your knees or inspire from one moment to the next. It is an emotional roller coaster, for sure, but one wholly worth your time. It achieves in a clear cut depiction of real world horror what no fantastical flight of fancy could ever aspire to do. "Room" is an important film but, more than that, it is a brilliant one. Highly recommended.
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A very good movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 19 March 2017 06:370 comments, Reply to this entry
Room review
Posted : 7 years, 8 months ago on 12 July 2016 07:200 comments, Reply to this entry
Room review
Posted : 7 years, 10 months ago on 28 April 2016 07:050 comments, Reply to this entry
Room
Posted : 8 years, 2 months ago on 18 January 2016 08:44Maternal love is the tie that binds throughout Room, a harrowing but rewarding glimpse into the lives of a young woman and her son held in captivity. Well, that’s where Room begins its journey, and it continues on into their struggle to weave themselves into the outside world. Much of the story examines the ugliest things we are capable of doing to each other, the explosive damage that can turn inward, and our struggles to heal those scars, as much as we can.
If that sounds emotionally draining, much of it is. How could this story not be? Told through the eyes of a five-year-old boy born into captivity, the product of the repeated rape and sexual abuse of his twenty-four-year old mother, he knows nothing but Room. And all of the objects within it are the only things that feel real to him, everything on outside is the stuff of make believe and legends. What we think of a common place, he thinks of as the stuff of fairy tales.
Yet, even in these darkest moments, there are real moments of human empathy and connection. Joan Allen’s presence as the grandmother struggling to reconnect with her daughter, and meeting a grandson she just learned existed could be exhibit A. It’s great to see Allen on the big screen again, and her underplayed acting style feels so lived in and real. A scene where she speaks with her grandson while cutting his hair, explaining that in times of crisis they all lean on each other to share strength and support, practically glows with familial love and empathetic support.
Perhaps in another year, or if Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander had not been nominated in the wrong categories for their movies, Allen would have been a well-deserved Supporting Actress nominee. She is just that good, and it’s been a long time since she’s had a role this juicy. She could have easily played it up for hammy actorly relish, but she digs deep into understanding who this woman is.
The same could be said about our two lead actors. Brie Larson has been so good in so many things for so long that her newly placed prominence feels like everyone else is just catching up. I first encountered her in The United States of Tara, where she held her own against Toni Collette, no easy feat that trick, and Viola Davis, ditto. Larson’s work here is revelatory, showing a new expansion of a range that was already formidable based on her performances in Short Term 12 and Tara.
The earliest scenes find Larson trying to normalize their life, making a whole world in a tiny garden shed. Once on the outside, she clings to dreams and memories of a home life that has changed dramatically since she last saw it. Her character’s descent into anger, hostility, trauma, and suicidal depression is slowly emerging. Scenes of her abuse by Old Nick are harrowing, but so is a sit-down interview with a primetime news reporter. To think that she’s capable of such depths of emotion and feeling at only twenty-six is quite pleasing, and it’s going to be a treat to watch her career and talent mature from here. If I had an Oscar ballot, I’d cast my vote for her.
And as good as Larson and Allen are, Jacob Tremblay is just as good as Jack, the young child whose eyes we experience this story through. He is so convincing and realistic in this story, I just couldn’t help wondering how they conjured this performance out of him. Child actors are frequently kept guarded from the more disturbing or traumatic aspects of the films they star in, but that seems unavoidable with this material. His petulance feels like a normal five-year-old, and his insular traumatized reactions to the outside world feel all too real. His eventual awakening to the possibilities of the outside world is so slowly and fluidly done, I just couldn’t believe how fantastic this child was. No cutesy precocious child-actor stunts here, his work recalls the fantastic work of Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Undeniably tough material, but Room is one of the best pieces of movie-making from 2015. That Larson is dominating year end polls for Best Actress is no surprise, and I wouldn’t be shocked if we look back at her performance again in the decade wrap-up. Or if Tremblay goes on to become an adult star, the spark of greatness is already there in this performance. Room is hard stuff, but the rewards are many and splendid.
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