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(About Our Ads) "IN THE BEDROOM" (2001) (Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Moderate Extreme Moderate Heavy Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Minor None None None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Mild Extreme Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Drama: A married couple's relationship is tested when their college-aged son becomes involved in a relationship that has tragic results. PLOT: It's summertime in Maine and Frank Fowler (NICK STAHL) is back home from college, trying to earn some money as a part-time lobsterman before heading back to school in the fall. His parents, Matt (TOM WILKINSON), a local doctor, and Ruth (SISSY SPACEK), the high school choir teacher, are proud of their son, but are worried about his latest romantic relationship. He's dating Natalie Strout (MARISA TOMEI), an older mother of two -- Jason (CAMDEN MUNSON) and Duncan (CHRISTOPHER ADAMS) - whose divorce to Richard (WILLIAM MAPOTHER) is not yet finalized. While it's obvious the two love each other, the Fowlers are concerned about the many differences between them, not to mention that Richard keeps showing up when he's not invited and has even hit Frank. One thing eventually leads to another and a person ends up dead. From that point on, Frank and Ruth -with the help of their married friends Willis (WILLIAM WISE) and Katie Grinnel (CELIA WESTON) -- try to cope with the event, the ensuing court case, and the effect all of that has on their marriage. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're fans of someone in the cast, only teens interested in solidly told dramas would probably want to see it. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For some violence and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: TOM WILKINSON plays a doctor whose life is shattered and his marriage tested by a tragedy in his life. He becomes withdrawn, starts to drink, and is quite violent in one scene as a means of seeking retribution and/or saving his marriage. SISSY SPACEK plays his choir teacher wife who becomes bitter and angry at everything and everyone after the tragedy, thus putting a strain on her marriage. NICK STAHL plays their college-aged son whose relationship with Natalie, an older woman who's not yet divorced, ultimately leads to tragic consequences. MARISA TOMEI plays a soon to be divorced mother of two who's seeing Frank and must put up with Richard not being out of their lives. She uses strong profanity, WILLIAM MAPOTHER plays Natalie's estranged husband who uses strong profanity, becomes more of a nuisance and eventually becomes extremely violent. WILLIAM WISE plays Matt's good friend who uses some brief strong profanity, drinks some and helps Matt resolve his problem. CELIA WESTON plays his wife and Ruth's close friend who tries to help her through the rough times. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of the use of at least 8 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Some sexually related dialogue is also spoken (some of it explicit), while some fooling around between a married, but soon to be divorced mother and a much younger man occurs on and off screen, but isn't explicit. Violence consists of two lethal shootings, one with bloody results, and some non-lethal encounters. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some of those scenes and others may be unsettling or suspenseful to viewers. Tense family material includes one failed marriage, another that's falling apart, and a death in a family. Meanwhile, various characters drink and/or smoke. Should you still be concerned about the film and its level of appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the contained occurring within it. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Frank asks Natalie if she wants a beer at a cookout and she declines the offer (although others drink beer, including the local priest). Matt and some friends have beer in front of them while playing poker. We see some beer in a display case in a convenience store. Willis drinks a beer, and then does so again while Katie, Matt and Ruth have wine in front of them. The guys have beer in front of them while playing poker again. We see two beers in front of Matt. Some people drink in a bar. Matt has a beer. Richard offers for a woman to join him for a drink, but she declines the offer. BLOOD/GORE We see a few stitches near Frank's eye (from where Richard hit him - not seen). We see blood on a man's hand and a great deal on another man's face (and the possible bullet wound) and on the floor as he lies dead there. We see a little bit of blood on Matt's finger from where a lobster snapped him. We hear, but don't see a man urinating. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Willis and Matt briefly ogle Natalie's clothed butt (in a short and somewhat tight-fitting dress that the camera also focuses on as she bends over) with Matt complaining about having the wrong bread-based buns for a cookout and Willis joking that maybe he can have some of hers. Willis then comments something about if he could have had her in his youth. Richard shows up at a party where he knows he wasn't supposed to be, and then becomes more of a nuisance as the story progresses, including hitting Frank (off-screen), ransacking part of Natalie's place, and turning very violent. Frank tells his mom a white lie about having gone to an interview (that was cancelled). Ruth doesn't like Frank dating Natalie and so tries to persuade him to stop seeing her. Matt and Ruth begin to have some of both types of attitudes toward each other as a result of the tragedy in their lives. During this, Ruth states that Matt really wanted Natalie but couldn't have her ("You wanted it, but couldn't get it"), and that he didn't stop the relationship so that he could get his kicks through his son and "your fantasy piece of ass." After a woman turns down Richard's offer for a drink and leaves, he refers to her as a "f*cking bitch." Two men take the law into their own hands by killing another person and then burying them. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may also be disturbing or suspenseful to some viewers. Natalie becomes nervous when Richard shows up and bangs on the door, wanting in, and Frank won't let him. Richard then comes in another door and pushes Frank backwards. A person pulls out a gun and shoots another person (we don't see the impact, but do see the bloody body on the floor). A man abducts another man at gunpoint, and holds that gun on him (once right against the back of his head) through a succession of scenes. A person shoots another person dead and we then see him and another person carrying the wrapped body into the woods to bury it at night. They then hear a sound and freeze, but it turns out to be just an animal. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns: Used to threaten and kill several people. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "You f*cking bitch," "You're pulling the same sh*t with me," "Butt face," "Nuts" (crazy), "Bitch and moan" (complain), "Bastard," "Idiots," "Jeez," "What the hell /are you doing/is that supposed to mean?" and "Balls" (testicles). JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 8 "f" words (3 used sexually), 2 "s" words, 4 craps, 4 hells, 2 asses (1 used with "hole"), 1 damn, 6 uses of "Christ," 5 of "Oh my God," 2 of "For Christ's sakes" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "For God's sakes," "Jesus," "Jesus Christ" and "Oh God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY We briefly see Frank and Natalie making out while lying on the ground outdoors (clothed). Willis and Matt briefly ogle Natalie's clothed butt (in a short and somewhat tight-fitting dress that the camera also focuses on as she bends over) with Matt complaining about having the wrong bread-based buns for a cookout and Willis joking that maybe he can have some of hers. Willis then comments something about if he could have had her in his youth. Matt playfully tells Ruth that Frank is like him and wants everything now (as he playfully holds on to her). After Ruth states that Frank should have his head in school and not in Natalie, Matt playfully replies, "So to speak" (indicating a double entendre on her part). She then states that it would help if Matt were on her side (regarding the Frank & Natalie situation) and Matt again playfully replies that he can be on her side (and then climbs on top of her - both are clothed - in bed). Matt goes home looking for Frank and sees him and then Natalie showing up at the top of the stairs, looking a bit disheveled and guilty (suggesting they were fooling around). Later, and after the three of them have some coleslaw, Matt playfully asks Frank if he told his mom how good it was that afternoon (a double entendre for the slaw and the fooling around). Richard complains that Natalie has taken his home, his boys and is "f*cking" Frank. After a moment, she comes back at him stating, "As far as f*cking goes, who was that answered the phone the other morning?" Moments later, he states, "And I'm not f*cking a college boy, am I?" While in an intense argument, Ruth states that Matt really wanted Natalie but couldn't have her ("You wanted it, but couldn't get it"), and that he didn't stop the relationship so that he could get his kicks through his son and "your fantasy piece of ass." Richard comments to Matt about Frank "making it with my wife." SMOKING Ruth smokes around 4 times, while Natalie smokes once, as do a few miscellaneous characters. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We learn that Natalie and Richard are to be divorced, but that it's not yet final. He then repeatedly shows up and becomes more of a nuisance as the story progresses, with varying degrees of arguing between them. Frank becomes tired and/or irritated with his mom's reaction to his relationship with Natalie. Family members must deal with a death in the family. Ruth and Matt's marriage becomes progressively strained as the story wears on, going from them not talking or barely doing so to having a loud argument and bad feelings toward each other. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Whether the age difference between Frank and Natalie should have been important. How tragedy affects families and how it can often tear them apart due to different methods of grieving, etc. How the law handles tragedies as occurred here. VIOLENCE We see a few stitches near Frank's eye (from where Richard hit him - not seen). We see that Richard has ransacked part of Natalie's place. Richard comes in through a door and pushes Frank backwards. A man pulls out a gun and shoots another (we don't see the shooting or impact, but do see the bloody body on the floor). We see a little bit of blood on Matt's finger from where a lobster snapped him. After Natalie shows up to talk to Ruth, Ruth smacks her. Ruth purposefully breaks a plate while arguing with Matt. A man abducts another man at gunpoint, and holds that gun on him through a series of scenes. A man shoots a person several times in the back, killing him. Reviewed August 30, 2001 / Posted December 25, 2001