Movie Review: "Room"

Room (2015)

R

4.5 Stars out of 5

Director                             Lenny Abrahamson
Writer                                Emma Donoghue (book and screenplay)
Cinematography              Danny Cohen

Bree Larson                       Ma (Joy Newsom)
Jacob Tremblay                 Jack
Sean Bridgers                    Old Nick
Joan Allen                          Nancy (Grandma)
William H. Macy               Robert (Grandpa)
Tom McCamus                  Leo

 

In the spring of 2008, a case of abduction and incestuous rape was reported in Austria. Middle-aged Elisabeth Fritzl has been held captive for 24 years by her father in the basement of the house he shared with his wife, Rosemarie. The details of this case were as unbelievable as they were a terrible example of the depths to which a human can descend. Not only had Josef Fritzl repeatedly raped his daughter and imprisoned her in his basement, he had also imprisoned four of the seven children Elisabeth bore as a result of his twice weekly rapes of her; the other three he raised upstairs as foundlings with his oblivious wife. This horrible story and possibly the individual case of the five year old child, Felix (the youngest child) inspired Emma Donoghue to write “Room” (2008). In 2015, she wrote the screenplay for the movie made from her book, “Room”.

“Room” the movie seems to be a prime example of a movie script that has been written with a premise that serves little more purpose than to set up a final climatic scene (see 2015’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings” with the apparently required CGI’d parting of the waves). And yet as the Fritzl case shows there is no particular element of the set-up for “Room” that could not occur. It could occur and has occurred several times in several guises in recent history (see also the Elizabeth Smart story in 2002 right here in Salt Lake City). However, this emotionally-wrenching story of a young mother, Joy Newsom (Bree Larson) and her five year old child, Jack (Jacob Tremblay) has so many topics worth thinking about besides their situation and how they deal with it.

Best Actress Oscar-winning Larson plays Joy so expertly it is hard to believe that Larson’s film acting resume is as short as it is. Joy known as Ma to young Jack weaves from loving and thoughtful motherhood to fierce protector of Jack from his rapist father, Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) to the inevitable down days when she sinks beneath the covers on her bed to somehow sleep away the awful situation she is trapped in. As good as Larson is, nine year old Tremblay as Jack cannot really be said to perform at a lower level; especially when one considers his age. Jack is the ultimate innocent living with his mother in a 12’X12’ room equipped with little more than a bed, bath, toilet and wardrobe. He knows no other world and unlike his mother is filled with the joy he finds in his tiny kingdom. They both look to the skylight on any given day: Joy with thoughts of things lost, Jack only to the wonder of the sky.

Joy is a remarkable creature: kidnapped when she was but 17 by Old Nick (his true name is unknown to her) during an act of kindness by her to him, she raises her son with incomparable compassion and a sense of hope for him – hope she no longer feels is certain for herself. When events appear to be rushing towards ruin with Old Nick, she formulates a plan to escape. That the escape must be made is frighteningly clear based on Old Nick’s comments, but also the plan of escape requires that in order to save Jack, she must risk his life. The cinematic tension as the plan unfoldss is enervating and to any parent, overwhelmingly emotional. The reunion of Jack and Ma following the escape is one of the most emotional I have ever seen.

But Jack and Ma’s issues are far from resolved. The second part of this two part story details how recovery from abduction, rape and confinement has badly damaged Joy; far more so than Jack. One of the more compelling aspects of Joy’s new state is ironically her new relationship to Jack. In Room, she was his stars and moon, and he hers; but now as newly freed captives, they are surrounded by well-wishing family and health professionals. Joy has lost her  sense of purpose; Jack has lost his Ma. He loses her as she sinks deeper and deeper into depression. In time and through an act of kindness by Jack, he is able to save her a second time: the first by his risky escape from the room and eventual explanation to the police, and the second time by his enduring love for his mother. The picture of the two of them on a modern equivalent to a hammock from Joy’s childhood sums up their adventure from Room to their new life of freed mother and son.

There is little to criticize about writer Emma Donoghue and director Lenny Abrahamson’s excellent movie “Room”. I fidgeted a little over how quickly the police broke down an armored door, one that had held Joy and Jack prisoners for years. A bigger criticism is the inclusion of Grandpa Newsom as played by the always excellent William H. Macy. He enters the movie as the overwrought father embracing a daughter he thought lost and dead for seven years. He leaves as a man unable to speak further with his now recovered daughter or even to look at his grandson, Jack. To be sure, the death of a child often causes the break-up of marriages as it does in this tale. And it is believable that the child of rape might be a reminder of that rape, just as the face of that innocent child reminds one of the rapist. Yes, it might happen, but in the case of this fictional story it seems too much. The multiple scenes (again amazingly played by Tremblay) as he can only look at his mother or speak to her in a whisper in the early days following his escape are fully believable. The intelligent aspect of this goes further to point out how those around Jack struggle to expand the ambit of their understanding to give him the space and time he needs. His Grandpa cannot do it; lucky for Jack, his Grandma (Joan Allen) and her new husband Leo (Tom McCamus) can. Lucky for the fictional Jack, but the Grandpa/Leo side story is an unnecessary literary flourish that only detracts from the movie.

That being said, the acting and story are really of the highest caliber. I also greatly enjoyed the direction of Lenny Abrahamson and cinematography of Danny Cohen in act 1 of “Room”. Consider the set is said to be roughly a 12’X12’ shed within which are crammed the actors and their implements of life. The camera moves from left to right and back again throughout the confinement parts of the movie. The book’s version of the story is told from Jack’s point of view, and the camera work seems designed to stay with that POV. Room rarely seems confining to this young boy who knows no other world. There’s nothing small about Room to this five year old; it is the World. Another technique used to image the mindsets of Joy and Jack are the several scenes where they are pictured looking upward toward the skylight with its light streaming onto their faces – again, there is nothing but hope here for Jack. He is not confined, he is elated.

 

 

This movie is a gem and a perfect counterpoint to the big picture of 2015, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (evidently a big favorite of young Tremblay). Both are excellent films. However, they use the diametrically opposed elements of story-telling: the immensity of outer space versus the 500 square feet of a back yard shed. But they both also use very effectively the power of the human imagination. Go see “Room”, but do bring an expectation to see the human spirit alive in the mind of a glorious five year old. Then go to bed that evening dreaming that the five year and not his father is the true icon of humanity.