To start with a comparison this movie was like if Albert Einstein had a lobotomy. It was supposed to be about love, loss, grief, forgiveness, but nothing of it was in there. The director did his best to castrate what could have been a beautiful movie. I mean, the plot was good, but it was treated in the most superficial way. The shooting was banal and the acting simply pathetic. Every moment was turned into an insipid nonsense. I don't know if the director is aware of the fact that Hollywood is playing him for a fool, which means that the producers have found someone able to transform the most compelling stories in one of those main stream baloney. Someone says in a review that this is a soap-opera and a bad one I must add. I found it most accurate. What really astonishes me is the fact that such good actors like Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei and Nick Stal dared to appear in this Hollywood saccharine. I could never ever forget Stal's performance in " Bully" by Larry Clarck. In that feature he was able to catch the meaning of his character in such perfect way... And now this... Of course, when directors make movies which depict life like it really is, they are usually called nihilistic, pervert or, why not, communist... Now how shall we call the ones who strive to make fun of the most tragic things that can happen in human life? I'm not saying that making fun was the director's purpose, but he did, or to be more precise, you couldn't even laugh at it, because of its total lack of meaning

There are two main events in the 2 hours that this movie lasts. Or maybe should I say "thera are BUT 2 events"? Two killings, that's it. One around 40 minutes from the start, one about 15 minutes to the ending.Before, in between and after, there is utter, complete boredom. And no, sorry, the actually wonderful acting alone is not enough to save this yawn of a movie. The first almost 40 minutes are preparatory for what is (rather predictably) going to happen, but there is so little going on that one just wonders why it has to take that long to get to the point. Then it finally happens. In the beginning you start to feel for the characters, for their loss, but after a while it gets so unbearably slow-paced, so redundant, that all tension is released and gives way to what seems to be a never ending humdrum. The film has a sudden flick of emotion when the revenge takes place, but then again, the tension only lasts 10 minutes, and then dead calm again, up to the end. The makers of this movie succeeded in the not easy task of turning a life's tragedy into a slumbery, somnolent confrontation between a few characters, that gets your eyelids heavy sooner than you might like.I see this movie got mostly high grades, I'll rather go upstream and recommend to avoid it. Then again, it's your choice.

Every film you watch can't be all happy filled and all smiles. Just as in life bad things like tragic deaths of loved ones happen, and as shown in this film it tears people's world apart. True life is full of love, and enjoyment and conflict and on the down part pain and suffering. Aside from it's sad tragic theme this film is well supported from it's plot and the long slow direction as common from director Todd Field draws you in.Set in a sleepy New England town a young man Frank Fowler(Nick Stahl)is involved romantically with an older single woman(Marisa Tomei) a mom of two who's split from her abuse prone first husband. Frank's parents the well to do educated Fowlers(brilliant performances from Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek) mother a music teacher and dad a doctor don't happen to approve of this relationship of Frank's. Only when least expected the apparent nightmare comes true the relationship results in tragic means. And this has a lasting impact on the Fowlers. Causing the need for matters to be taken into their own hands.Really "In the Bedroom" is one powerful film that's painful, it's filled with sorrow and guilt and the performances from the cast is top notch, one film that if you can deal with the sadness it's not to be missed.

From reading the plot, I thought this was going to be similar to a crime story, but it's that and so much more.Tom Wilkinson Sissy Spacek and William Mapother do great portraying their characters, as well as Nick Stahl and Marisa. The cast is solid and the script is riveting.The story goes in a bit of a different direction as most, the beginning is rather fast-paced and the latter half slows down a bit, but that's what made this movie exciting, it was so unexpected.This film focuses on various aspects of life, but mainly the justice system and personal justice. There is depth to this film, but it's also an easy watch as you are drawn into the story more and more after every scene.