Steve Reviews Room

One of the problems with writing reviews is trying to give an opinion on something without giving spoilers. I refuse to give spoilers. Even worse is when the general synopsis of a film given by a major website such as IMDB.com contains information that could be considered a spoiler.

I'm now presented with the challenge of saying to you, dear reader, that Room may be the best picture of 2015, and I challenge you to watch it without reading what it's about.  I honestly had zero knowledge of the plot when I started watching it, and I'm so glad I did. Walking into a film blind is the truest litmus test. Preconceived notions can be created just by a trailer, which is why I have come to hate trailers too, but that's a different article for a different day.

The story opens on a woman, played by former child actress Brie Larson, waking up with her son Jack on his 5th birthday. Their close quarters and seemingly minimalist lifestyle create a tight-knit, loving relationship that is charming but somewhat off-putting. The promise of baking a birthday cake appears to be the highlight of young Jack's life.  Jack has an incredibly playful imagination, but he has a disheveled look - including incredibly long (yet beautiful) hair - that adds to the mystery of this family's strange lifestyle. Something is amiss.

OK, now that I've set the stage for the first ten minutes of the film, I will say no more. Room takes you on a roller coaster of emotion. What starts out as sympathy turns into a stark thriller. By the midpoint of the film, a whole new cast of characters is introduced, and new relationships take the story in a direction that I would have never predicted when the film started.  As the end credits rolled, all I could say is "Wow."

After a few minutes of reflection, I wondered aloud, "Why has no one mentioned Jacob Tremblay in the award season talk??" This 9 year old boy took my breath away, and he is every bit as deserving of a Best Actor nomination as Leo DiCaprio and Eddie Redmayne. Brie Larson will likely get a nom in the Best Actress category (probably due to her post-kid-role transformation), and I imagine a screenplay nom for Emma Donaghue, who also wrote the novel. However, Jacob Tremblay is nowhere to be seen. A travesty, I say. If I had a vote, he'd be on my list.

Find this film, and watch it. You won't be disappointed.

-Steve
1.5.2016