Room (2015) [Blu-ray]
Drama

After being abducted, raped and imprisoned in a small windowless room, a young woman gives birth and is forced to raise her son, Jack, in the same improvised space. But after five years, Jack's mother begins planning their escape.

Storyline: Room tells the extraordinary story of Jack, a spirited 5-year-old who is looked after by his loving and devoted mother. Like any good mother, Ma dedicates herself to keeping Jack happy and safe, nurturing him with warmth and love and doing typical things like playing games and telling stories. Their life, however, is anything but typical--they are trapped--confined to a windowless, 10-by-10-foot space that Ma has euphemistically named Room. Ma has created a whole universe for Jack within Room, and she will stop at nothing to ensure that, even in this treacherous environment, Jack is able to live a complete and fulfilling life. But as Jack's curiosity about their situation grows, and Ma's resilience reaches its breaking point, they enact a risky plan to escape, ultimately bringing them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world. Written by A24

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, March 5, 2016 One of the perceived "upsets" of the most recent installment of the Academy Awards came when Mark Rylance won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Bridge of Spies, supposedly usurping the statuette from its expected winner, Sylvester Stallone, who was revisiting his iconic role of Rocky Balboa in Creed. Stallone's reaction at the moment Rylance's name was announced evinced the same sort of shocked surprise that was also on display last year when Michael Keaton just as unexpectedly saw his Birdman dreams of victory sidelined by Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, though Stallone very graciously rebounded in a few online ripostes after the award "drama" had subsided. What might seem at least as "controversial" about this particular category is not the eventual winner, but the lack of even a nomination for little Jacob Tremblay, an eight year old (at the time of filming) whose performance in Room is arguably the fulcrum around which everything else in the film hinges, including that of his co-star Brie Larson (who ironically took home the Academy Award for Best Actress in a category which was considered a "done deal" the moment Larson was nominated). Room is a devastating emotional gauntlet for the viewer, but considering how traumatic the film's premise could have been, it's remarkable how generally life affirming it ends up being, a testament to the performance acumen of its two main players.

Note: It's well nigh impossible to discuss Room without mentioning what some may consider spoilers. Those sensitive to this are encouraged to skip down to the technical portions of the review, below.

There's probably no greater fear that most parents experience than worries about something bad happening to their kids. Along with the "worst case scenario", which would probably be death for most loving parents, is the thought that some villain might kidnap their child and do something horrible to them. Room's basic plot setup deals with just such a situation, finding Joy (Brie Larson) in the seventh year of captivity after having been lured into prisoner status as a teenager by a man she knows only as Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). Even more horrifyingly, Old Nick has fathered a son with Joy, an adorable little 5 year old named Jack (Jacob Tremblay). Joy and Jack are kept confined in a squalid shack they call Room, a "domicile" which includes the basics to sustain life, but not much else.

The first half or so of the film documents the attempts by Joy to give Jack some kind of life, despite the fact that the two are never allowed to leave the small and dowdy room. Joy has taken some unusual steps to provide Jack a semblance of "normalcy", making the boy believe that the only "real world" is the cramped quarters in which he lives, and that everything he witnesses on the old television Old Nick has allowed the two to have is "fantasy". Joy is still the sexual slave of sorts to Old Nick, and while she may not have full blown Stockholm Syndrome, she's obviously caught in an impossible situation of trying to cope with that situation while also trying to raise Jack in as nurturing a way as possible, at least considering the horrible circumstances.

Considering how at least somewhat tangentially similar scenarios involving abducted girls or women have played out in films like The Collector, The Lovely Bones or (perhaps even more disturbingly) The Cell, already some may be saying to themselves, "Great—a kidnapped woman raped by her captor and held prisoner in a dilapidated room with her child. Do I really need to see that?" But here's the thing—Room's second half actually deals with Joy and Jack's liberation, one that comes after Joy realizes Jack's maturation simply can't be allowed to unfold in the room, especially after Old Nick confesses some economic woes which may make even their already barren existence less feasible. The film has an incredibly tense sequence where Joy plots the escape of Jack, even if it means her own demise, but rather incredibly Jack manages to get out alive and to spark some perhaps too facile events that quickly free Joy as well.

The second half of Room is where perhaps totally unexpectedly the film really starts to deal with some profound issues, thereby creating some really remarkable emotional responses. The sequence where Jack, in the outside world for the first time, looks around (while he's still more or less captive) and realizes that reality is not in fact some make believe world is one of the more awe inspiring "little" moments in the recent annals of film, and just one prime example of how superb Tremblay is in this difficult role. But what's so moving about Room is watching the different responses Jack and Joy have to finally being freed. The psychological import of this liberation is completely different for both characters, and Emma Donoghue's screenplay (adapting her own novel) rather commendably gets "inside" both Joy and Jack without resorting to (too many) florid melodramatic touches.

While the first half of the film at least is a virtual "two hander" (despite the appearance of Old Nick), the second half provides some really nice moments for Joan Allen and William H. Macy as Joy's distraught (and now divorced) parents, who are dealing not just with being reunited with a daughter they presumed might be dead, but with an adorable little grandson who is adjusting to a world he thought was only imaginary. Larson's performance in a marvel of both understatement and also an expressive urgency at times, and she's matched moment to moment by the equally impressive Tremblay.

Make no mistake about it, there are aspects to Room which make it very difficult to sit through, probably especially for parents who are prone to worry anyway about the safety of their children. But what is so refreshingly commendable here is the film's portrayal of the resilience of the human spirit under unimaginable duress, not to mention the unshakeable bond between a mother and child. Performances are incredibly moving, technical merits are generally strong, and Room comes Highly recommended.

[CSW] -3.8- Okay, I couldn't have said it better that this reviewer:
It's no wonder that this won the audience prize at the Toronto Film festival: it does two things exceptionally well which you wouldn't think that any single movie could do. It will have you on the edge of you seat, holding your breath and hoping against hope for a positive outcome for the characters, one that seems difficult or impossible. And it will have you contemplating the mere wonder of existence, as it beautifully reminds you to appreciate all things both natural and man-made. In other words, it combines tense thrills and serene spirituality, and in a way that feels whole and organic. Brie Larson (so great in Short Term 12) may well get an Oscar nomination for this, but an even more remarkable performance is given by Jacob Tremblay, who plays 5-year-old Jack and looks to be that age; an Oscar nom may be headed in his direction as well. I haven't read the novel it's based on, but it was adapted by its author, Emma Donaghue, and she clearly deserves most of the credit for the vision. See this with an audience; you'll want to share its deep emotions with other souls.

[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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