(rated R, 138 mins.)
“In the Bedroom” takes its meaning from the place where days wind down and generations of values dictate secret decisions, peace, love and pain. A well-woven drama taking place in a small fish packing community in Camden, Maine with generations of fishermen where one family’s son Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) is torn between education, the high seas and the girl he loves. His father Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) is the town physician while his wife Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek) is the school music teacher. All seems fine although Ruth doesn’t approve of her son Frank dating the town’s lovely divorced woman Natalie Strout, (Marisa Tomei), mother of two small children. Her soon to be ex-husband (William Mapother) doesn’t seem to handle the affair well either. When something goes terribly wrong everything unravels quickly, leaving mistakes to affect the remainder of the living’s own mortality. An intense yet harmonious weaving of characters, plot and cinematography with the perfect marriage of actor to role depicting drama at its best with an ending to make you cheer for justice and the aftermath that lasts a lifetime. While refreshing to see Tomei return to drama, it seems her role was not clearly utilized after the occurrence that rocks the movie. Look for Spacek and Wilkinson come Oscar time.