Lenny
Abrahamson’s Room opens in a 10 x 10 room that
has no windows, a locked door, and no light
other than that provided by an overhead
skylight. Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a slight
five-year old boy with hair down to his
shoulders wakes up each morning as he has all
his life, saying hello to his world. He says
hello, not to the sun or the grass outside his
front door where he can run and laugh and play
but only to the objects which is all his world
consists of: the lamp, the sink, the plant, the
refrigerator. His only friend is a mouse that he
feeds with some pleasure.
Not that he lacks for companionship. Ma (Brie
Larson) is with him and their endless days
consist of cooking, reading, and watching TV
where Jack is told that what he sees on the
screen is not real, only pretend. All he knows
of the world is what he sees in front of his
eyes. Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) brings food and
other household items but when he comes, Jack
has to hide in his wardrobe, out of sight. Ma,
we find out, has been kept prisoner and used for
sex by the hulking man who comes every night and
we know that Jack is a result of his mother’s
rape. Jack is the focus of the film and we see
everything from his point of view, with the help
of his sometime narration but we can also get
into his mother’s mind and feel her pain and
live her dreams.
There is never any doubt of his mother’s love
though the obvious strain of keeping herself
from crying out every minute is painfully
obvious. To Jack, she is the center of his world
and his reason for being. When the second half
of the film takes a surprising turn and shifts
180 degrees, Jack and Ma are not prepared for
what awaits them. Even when an alternative is
suggested as possible, he doesn’t want to hear
anything about a different world with blue sky
and rivers and trees. Room is a tense and
compelling film in which Brie Larson more than
fulfills the brilliance that she showed in Short
Term 12 and should make her an Oscar contender.
Tremblay is also superb.
He lives his character and makes him come alive,
even though he is only nine years old.
Supporting roles by Joan Allen and William H.
Macy also contribute to the film’s second half
but it is always Larson and Tremblay that carry
the day. The film is not mawkish or sentimental
even though the soaring score by Stephen
Rennicks comes close. While there are some plot
implausibilities, the film is a tribute to the
resiliency and the dedicated love of a parent
for their child. It is also a teaching
experience. Like many who are walled off from
each other and think the box they are in is all
there is, the film can give us the combination
to open the locked door, if we take the risk to
turn the key.
GRADE:
A-
Howard Schumann
