Room Movie Review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews

Room

Room (not to be confused with the distasterpeice The Room) is a film based on a book of the same name by Emma Donoghue. It follows this kid named Jack, who has spent the first five years of his life in a small isolated shed, along with his mother. Essentially, the film follows the kid through after the two of them escape, as he comes to terms with how big the real world is. The film stars Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, Tom McCamus, and is directed by Lenny Abrahamson.

This movie has received a lot of positive buzz in recent months, it won a bunch of awards at both Toronto and Calgary International Film Festival, and everyone I know whose seen it says they liked it a lot. And while I don't think it's the best picture contender I've read it is, I certainly really enjoyed this movie quite a bit. First off, I think I should talk about the kid in this movie, Jacob Tremblay. Kid actors in movies are usually a major hit or miss, so putting a kid actor in the lead role of a pretty emotionally heavy film is a pretty big gamble. Thankfully, this kid is actually pretty good in the role, and sells what would be a difficult part to play for even an adult actor. 

Lenny Abrahamson has had a history with character driven films such as last years Frank, and in a lot of ways, Room is a similar movie to Frank. Both films are rich with character development, and in some form or another involve the use of the central characters not being entirely right in the head. Much like Frank, Room does an excellent job of making the characters in the film feel incredibly real, and making them relatable. The characters in this movie all feel like real people, which is credible to both the actors performances and the outstanding script.

Every year, during oscar season, there's always a bunch of movies that come out that are mostly carried by the performances. They're not necessarily bad because of it, but the movie's dependence on the performances kind of shows. Nowhere is it more prominent than in the films pacing, which is really the only area where the film lacks. This movie is only two hours long, but feels a lot longer than that, which leads to the movie feeling like its dragging on at times.

Final Rating

Although Room can overstay its welcome just a bit, it's still an interesting film with a compelling story. As far as character driven films go, Room is pretty good, and certainly worth your time if you're looking for something in that genre of film. It's also pretty likely that the film will win or at least be nominated for one or two oscars, so it might be worth seeing if you're looking to be caught up when the award shows come around.