This 2001 film is actor Todd Field's debut as feature film director, and it's a solid effort. Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek are an older couple -- Matt is a doctor, Ruth a teacher -- in the lovely seacoast town of Camden, Maine. Their 21-year-old son Frank (Nick Stahl) becomes enamored of an older single mom (Marisa Tomei) and considers dropping out of college to stay with her. They really would like him to cut it off but don't want to push him too hard. The young mother is separated from a violent, blue collar husband (William Mapother) who is very jealous of Frank and keeps trying to reconcile with her. This is a very slow, deliberate character study (based on the Andre Dubus short story "Killings") which focuses on the older couple and their reaction to the violent death of their son. Spacek is excellent as a strong, tightly wound, and bitter woman, but Wilkinson is the true center of this movie: ambivalent, caring, dissatisfied with his career and nearly everything else in life but too understanding of all to react strongly or swiftly. If you can settle into its rhythm, this antithesis of the blockbuster epic spectacle will provide tension and rewards aplenty.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
