|
Room
| Released |
15 January 2015 |
| Director |
Lenny Abrahamson |
Starring
|
Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, Wendy Crewson, Sandy McMaster |
| Writer(s) |
Emma Donoghue |
| Producer(s) |
Ed Guiney, David Gross |
| Origin |
Ireland, Canada |
| Running Time |
118 minutes |
| Genre |
Drama |
| Rating |
15A |
|
|
Room for improvement.
I write this review of Room on the eve of its release as somewhere, its cast and crew are celebrating a rather good day at the office. The film has received four nominations for the 2016 Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director (for Lenny Abrahamson), Best Actress in a Leading Role (for Brie Larson) and Best Adapted Screenplay (for author Emma Donoghue). As lovely as it may be to see Irish talent recognised on such a grand scale, I can’t help but feel a little baffled. Room is a solid film with significant flaws; it’s hard to imagine it being recognised on any other but this particularly weak Oscar year.
The film is adapted from Donoghue’s bestselling book of the same name and tells the story of a young woman named Hope (Brie Larson) and her five year old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay), who are being held captive in a small room by a middle aged man known only as "Old Nick". Nick snatched Hope when she was seventeen and Jack is a result of her abuse at his hands. Born and raised in the room, he knows nothing about the world outside. That small worldview is blown dramatically apart when mother and son attempt a daring escape.
During the first section of the film, the claustrophobia is palpable - almost to the film’s detriment. Abrahamson builds the tension so that the audience can get as close as they can to understanding the extreme frustration of living in such close quarters with a young child but I found the tantrums and repetition almost too much to take. When the film moves outside the four walls, I felt it became more watchable. The escape sequence is handled deftly, balancing unbearable tension with Jack’s frightened wonder as he emerges into the world. It is a standout scene, beautifully played by young Tremblay. Then, unfortunately the film takes another dip; the rest of the film feels rushed, as the complex experiences of mother and child are shrunken to a series of vignettes. The 'blink and you’ll miss him' appearance of William H Macy as Hope’s father only compounded the feeling that there were aspects of the story that had to be sacrificed for the benefit of the screenplay.
The overall feeling I had was one of dissatisfaction, despite the strong central performances from Larson and Tremblay. For me, Room is an important step in the career of a talented director, albeit on the back of one of his weaker films.
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Linda O’Brien |
