Room Review
- Brandon Thompson
- Feb 6, 2016
- 3 min read
Most people cringe of the thought of being stuck inside our house for a day or two during the summer while it's raining. How about being stuck in small garden shed for about 6 years? That is the basic synopsis for Room. Joy Newsome (Brie Larson) was kidnapped and is held captive in the garden shed of Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). The story starts when Joy's son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), turns 5 years old.
The movie starts off a bit slow exploring the characters of Joy and Jack. We see the toll it has on Joy who use to have a life outside of 'Room' (which is the name it's given by Joy to Jack) and how growing up in a confined space is like. Even though Jack grows up in 'Room' he is still an innocent child who has imaginary friends and pets, plays with toys and does chores. As Jack is getting older Joy realises more than ever that she needs to get out for her and Jack.
When they get out (this is not a spoiler, it's in the trailer) we know the characters well by this point in the movie but they seem different. This is obviously the characters adjusting to the outside world and it works well here. In the outside world Joy is taken in by her Mother and Step Dad.
While most the attention in the award ceremonies seem to point to Brie Larson being the star of the movie she can't take all of it. Jacob Tremblay who has more screen time has the bigger arc in the movie and when he and Brie Larson are in the same scene he always feels more important than her. There are always so many children in movies but so rarely is a kid snubbed of an Oscar nomination and here is a prime example of that. Brie Larson is the favourite to win the Best Actress award on the night of the Oscars this year and with such a tight race no one will be snubbed of the award this year.
Some of the supporting cast needs a shot out as well for there performances in the second half of the movie. Joan Allen, Tom McCamus and William H. Macy all bring in great supporting performances here and anchor the great performances of Larson and Tremblay.
To be frank I was surprised that this was Lenny Abrahamson's next project after his last movie (a comedy about a band that makes abstract music) but it doesn't show here. One of the great things about the directing is when we are in the room and the camera never leaves the room. While to anyone who studies film this is an obvious technique, like the one used in Rear Window, but it works really well. Another thing Abrahamson does well here is the staging and framing of actors. So rarely in Hollywood films do we get character's relationships and feelings shown in movement but here we do.
Like every movie based on a book, the movie will always be compared to the book. Luckily here the author of the book also wrote the screenplay. Emma Donoghue who wrote the screenplay off her book of the same name writes a screenplay with such professionalism that it's better than some screenplays from people who have written several screenplays. While I can't compare the movie and book as I haven't read the book, I do look forward to one day reading the book.
With probably the greatest range of movies nominated for best picture (no Oscar bait movies) this year is no exception. This is a movie that will go down in history as one of the great inspirational movies and it makes it a must see before the Oscars this year.
Overall Score: 9.4/10
What did you think of the movie if you have seen it? Did it make you hid in rugs?
The movie is in limited release in Sydney.
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