Room (2015) Reviews

• Imagine yourself as a 5 year old child discovering for the first time a brand new world exists outside of your room

  Ed-Shullivan2015-09-20

  SPOILER: At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival the film "ROOM" won the People's Choice Award today. It tells a story of a young woman and her five year old son who have been held in captivity in a confined and windowless living space for six years. Brie Larson stars as Ma and her son named Jack is played by Jacob Tremblay who is so believable that you will feel empathetic towards their captivity but relief as to how Ma convinces Jack that their little world is real and is wonderful. As Jack grows he starts to ask questions about their isolated lifestyle and we the audience anticipate that Ma must try and escape with young Jack but how? The story draws similarities to the actual events that were Jaycee Lee Dugard's true life story which occurred on June 10, 1991, in South Lake Tahoe, California. Dugard was 11 years old at the time she was abducted from a street while she was walking from home to a school bus stop and she was held captive for the next 18 years in a concealed back yard in a make shift shed. There is also some resemblance to the kidnapping of Amanda Berry who had a child fathered by her kidnapper Ariel Castro. This film was titled Cleveland Abduction and it was released in 2015. It tells the true story of three girls who were held captive for over 10 years by Ariel Castro in his home with no one aware how close the girls were to their own homes and families. The film Room focuses more on Jack and Ma's awkward adjustment to life outside of their room which was their entire world for the past six years. There is a strong supporting cast including performances such as Joan Allen's role as Jack's loving Grandma and the ever convincing all-star William H Macy as a resistant Grandpa who is having difficulty accepting that his daughter is raising her rapist's son. There are some scenes that are so heartwarming that it will be difficult not to find yourself becoming emotionally involved. In one particular very touching and loving scene, Jack asks his Grandma to cut his long hair so that the strength that he thinks that his shoulder length hair possesses can be transferred over to his sick Ma so she can return home from the hospital. Jack who understandably is initially withdrawn from anyone other than his Ma simply tells his Grandma after she washes and cuts his hair that he loves her. This loving scene between Jack and his Grandma will stay with me forever. Jack and Ma's is a story of isolation, fear, hopelessness versus hope and most importantly a film about redemption and the family bond. Room is deserving of an Oscar nomination for best picture and nominations in a few other categories as well such as best actress, best actor and best director. I give the film a 9.5 out of 10 rating. This film is terrific!!

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• This one is gonna stick with me

  ryan-bfd2016-01-06

  "Room" is an adaption of an internationally best-seller novel written by Irish playwright and novelist, Emma Donoghue. This is her first book to be adapted into a major motion picture and I have to say that it is a rather impressive one. I have not read Emma's novel yet, but I can only guess that this movie sticks to the novel's roots, considering that Emma decided to write the screenplay herself. Room is a story about a women who was kidnapped during her high school years and locked in a shed for 7 years. She was impregnated by her kidnapper in this room and was locked inside with the child. The child grows up and around the age of five is when the movie picks up. Throughout this entire movie we are taken through this story strictly from the Jack's (the child) point of view. Even though this story is experienced through the lens of this child, the story is in no way filtered or gussied up. It is this intimate and raw story about a child and his mother spending a hugely relevant portion of their existence stuck in this dull, dirty and claustrophobia-inducing shed. This shed contained one small window that emits a tiny portion of daylight into the room. To me, this represented a light at the end of the tunnel. Sort of like a tiny glimmer of hope in a deep and dark abyss. Throughout this entire movie, Jack narrates his experiences as he embarks upon the world. Jacob Trembley portrays this character with such a sense of wonder and innocence that every single narration that I hear from this boy is just heartbreaking. Every time Jack takes away something from the world, he takes it in as something new and exciting even if it is scary. They are things that everyone takes for granted everyday: trees, dogs, the sky, etc. You would think that the dramatic climax would be at the beginning when Jack gets out of the tiny room he has been locked in his entire life, but after-wards, this film just drags in one dramatic scene after another in a way that turns this film into one big heartache an experience. I do have say that Jacob Trembley and Allison Brie's performances carry a lot of the weight of this film. Allison gives a very natural and organic performance. You never catch her overacting or being too stiff during any scene in this movie. Jack Trembley gave one of the most, if not the most, impressive performances of the year. Not just because of his age, but because of how well of a dramatic performance that he gives without over or underacting in any of his scenes. He seemed to take his role with a very adult-like seriousness that translated into a lot of the movie's themes of innocence that are chased by the persistent and harsh reality that Jack and his mother are facing. The directing and cinematography in this film are beautiful. The film's intense theme is complimented with a variety of out-of- focus and close up shots that highlight the child's immediate consciousness as he takes the outside world with fresh- eyes. Many of the scenes are also complimented by a beautiful and breathtaking film score composed by the award-winning Stephen Rennicks who has been crafting soundtracks in the indie film world since 1997. Overall, this is a film that I won't be forgetting for the rest of my life. Mainly because it is a film about escaping outside of the room that you have been stuck in your whole life and discovering a world that has been hidden from you. I know that sounds kind of cheesy but this film does it in the most grounded and intense way possible. Not to mention that it is dosed with themes of abandonment, human-kindness, and media exploitation. I don't usually give films a 10/10. As a matter of fact, I could probably count the films this year that I do consider 10s on one hand. The films I consider perfect are life changing in some way or benchmarks in cinematic history. While this film will probably be washed away by the ever expanding ocean that is cinema, it is not a movie that I will be personally ever forgetting. I can't remember watching a film that made me feel so grateful for just being alive.

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• A brilliant movie, but painful to watch

  Red-1252015-12-14

  Room (2015/I) was directed by Lenny Abrahamson. It stars Jacob Tremblay as Jack and Brie Larson as his mother ("Ma") The situation becomes very clear early in the film. Jack and his mother are held captive by a man who has kidnapped her, raped her, impregnated her, and uses her as his sexual slave. Jack and his mother have lived in a small, locked shed, which they call "Room." Jack's mother has lived in "Room" since she was abducted seven years earlier. Jack has lived there for all of his life--five years. By incredible ingenuity, motivated by love, Ma has kept Jack from realizing the horrors of their situation. It's hard to believe that anyone could be so motivated and capable, allowing the boy to believe that his situation is normal, but it works in the film and you accept it. What happens next is pretty well known, but I won't go into it because it might decrease your enjoyment of the movie. It's dramatic, frightening, and, heart-wrenching, all at the same time. Brie Larson does a wonderful job as the mother, and Jacob Tremblay has to be the best child actor we have. He is absolutely brilliant. Director Abrahamson must be an extremely talented man to draw two such great performances from his actors. This is a must-see film, but it's not easy to watch. Even though Room wasn't based on any specific incident, we all know of cases of warped men who have kidnapped and enslaved women. It's hard to think about the lives of those women without becoming depressed. We saw the film at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. Given the claustrophobic atmosphere of the movie, it will work on the small screen as well. Seek it out and watch, but prepare yourself mentally before you begin.

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• Infinitely deep, an experience I will not forget.

  imdmt2016-01-02

  *Insert all 9 & 10 reviews here* I was in awe during the entire film. Lenny Abrahamson & the writing team made sure there was not one dull moment. The addition of "insignificant" characters and plot twists are later realized to be so significant and influential in keeping the film alive throughout its duration. It was the little things that made this story one of the best I've seen in a long time. I experienced an entire palette of emotions all at once and was left in a deep level of curiosity and reflection. Very few films have the power to continue to influence its audience after the credits. Room is endless in the most beautiful way.

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• A non-traditional thriller with another brilliant turn from Brie Larson but an even better one from Jacob Tremblay.

  joey-ziemniak2015-10-11

  Room is a harrowing thriller, but not in the traditional sense of the word. It deals with a dark subject matter and the first half of the film can be quite disturbing. Yet director Lenny Abrahamson (Frank) has adapted the best-selling novel with grace and grandeur. Here is a film so artistically unique and deviant, chock full of genuine emotion thanks to two outstanding performances, that isn't afraid to take risks and surprise at every turn. Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue, Room introduces us to Ma and Jack, a mother and son held captive in a garden shed. As we learn more about their captivity, their world becomes clearer and clearer to us. They live by a routine, have names for every object in room, and Ma must be careful as her son grows older and more curious. The film is structured into two halves, and by now it's no spoiler that the second half deals with their readjustment into the outside world, and Jack's first time outside of room. The film is thematically complex, yet never overwhelming. At its core it's about motherhood, but Jack's unique upbringing complicates things. Director Lenny Abrahamson is no stranger to the strange, and with Room he's made a masterpiece of filmmaking. The entire idea of 'room,' the abstract concept of space, is ever-present in the production. In their bubble of room, Ma and Jack are restricted, as evident by Abrahamson's close angles and tight shots. The small space allows for high concept filmmaking, and when they get out of room, it only gets better, with a new color palette and experimental camera angles through Jack's eyes. The entire film is seen through the eyes of this child, and it's genius. What I loved about the book was its focus on Jack and how he adjusts to seeing this new world for the first time, and the movie never loses sight of that. I wrote about the pressure placed on child actors in my review for the incredible Beasts of No Nation, and Jacob Tremblay fits like a glove. Like Abraham Attah, he isn't a child actor, but an actor who just happens to be of a younger age. His wide eyes and expressive thoughts are very believable, and when he sees the outside world for the first time, it's a thing of beauty. Tremblay has brilliant chemistry with Brie Larson, and for one second I never doubted her devotion to him. As Ma faces frustrating upon leaving room, from her parents, doctors, and the media, she never forgets her son Jack, and always puts his wellbeing first. Larson taps into this character, one that undergoes a stunning transformation as she basically lost seven years of her life being locked up. Her performance will blow you away. The best actors are the ones able to transport you into their characters' own universes, no matter how isolated from society they happen to be. Larson, Tremblay, and Joan Allen all have a tremendous range of emotional ability and are able to sell you on their story not just for two hours, but for an entire lifetime. With Room, Abrahamson goes the extra mile with his direction, and director of photography Danny Cohen keeps all eyes on Jack. The film asks us to examine how we view the world and how this viewpoint is shaped by our nurtured upbringing. The result is a breathtaking experience brought to life, one you won't soon forget.

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