Movie #1115 "Room" --- This was a surprisingly excellent film. I had read the book, and I did like the book a lot, but it was creepy in a lot of parts, hard to read, and I couldn't imagine how anyone could make a successful film on the subject --- but voila! it's been done. If you look below and see the subject matter --- kidnapping and raising a child in the confines of a tiny room (thus the title) with no tie to the outside world except through a door that is locked and unlocked by some creepy guy called Old Nick who visits nightly for....well, you can fill in the blank (while the 5 year old child sleeps in the wardrobe closet and who is instructed NOT to come out) -- why would anyone ever want to see the film, considering the subject matter? I wanted to see it because I heard nothing but rave reviews on the lead actress (Brie Larson) and the little boy who is only 5 years old --- and Brie got a SAG and Golden Globe nomination, and when I saw her competition, I thought: Brie might just win the best actress award this year, so I went to an art house theatre the other night, on my own, to see her , and I found it to be a very impressive acting job. She and the boy have wonderful rapport, and what is cool about the film is the way in which it is handled --- the book is from his point of view, and so is the movie, but since it is more a visual art, it affected me differently --- that is, the first hour when we are introduced to their lives in "Room" and then plan and carry out their big escape, we are in his eyes seeing the room as his only home for his 5 short years on earth so far --- he knows nothing of the outside world and at age 5, he starts to ask questions as to what is real or not real (like Dora on the t.v.) As a result, we are full of wonderment as we get introduced to what his life has been like so far ---- we can't believe his mother has been having him run "track" in "Room" --- up and down chairs, jumps off the bed, etc. We see how frightening this whole escape thing is to him because he doesn't know what's in store for him --- and then in the last hour of the film, getting acclimated to the new world, we are again full of wonderment --- we can't help but see trees, grass, snow, etc in his new eyes, and see what we take for granted every day. On the way out and since I've seen this movie, I stop and look at things more carefully....if the film has that effect on John Q. Public, we would have a much better world in which to live! It is a quiet film, and yes, it has a couple of tough moments to see, but on the whole, I highly recommend it. It's a wonderment from beginning to end. A very different film, and I think if the kidnapping issue doesn't put you off of it, you would come out seeing the world rather differently. Good job, mom, in opening this kid's eyes to so many things !!!
