Having just seen a preview of Room, the movie Emma Donoghue brought to life from her novel, I’m not surprised the process took five years. As a fan of the book, I was waiting to see how a story told through the eyes of a five-year old could be transferred successfully to the screen. Jacob Tremblay as Jack and Brie Larson as Ma made believers out of me within minutes. Lenny Abrahamson’s direction brought the difficult juxtaposition of home/prison to life.
My companion at the theater had not read the novel but was familiar with the real life situation in Cleveland a couple of years ago. We were impressed with how regular each of the characters appeared even in the midst of extraordinary circumstances. The acting was so persuasive I was still grabbed emotionally despite knowing exactly what would happen. The only jarring note was William H. Macy as Joy’s father, but he fit the role to a tee.
For those easily spooked I’d likely choose the book over the movie. While there is little violence, the story is about physical and emotional abuse and the most vulnerable. Room in both versions is a story very well told.
******** From October 16 **********
Five years ago, during one of my Book Expo America forays into the larger world of soon-to-be published titles, I picked up Emma Donoghue’s novel Room. With its colorful and childish lettering on the cover, it gave off a simple, calm impression. Was I wrong. It was Room that brought home the wonder of reading a title months before it hits the stores and the critics have at it. This book made such an impression that I seek it out every time I pass the shelf. So why write about it now? Today the movie version of Room is opening in New York, Los Angeles and other select locations. It will have wider distribution beginning next week.
Room is Jack’s story. Jack is five years old and lives with his mother, Ma, in a single room with no view of the outside world. Ma has been a prisoner for seven years after having been kidnapped. Jack is her captor’s son. As a reader, there is magic mixed with horror in Jack’s description of his world. Under the worst of possible circumstances Ma is nurturing a funny, bright boy while hiding from him the unending terror that is her life. When I read it back in 2010 the story was almost unimaginable. Two years ago, a reality all too similar to Donoghue’s fiction was uncovered in Cleveland. Three young women, and the daughter of one, were held in a similar fashion for up to ten years. The tragedy of life imitating art.
Emma Donoghue could have taken the easy way out and ended the novel with Jack and Ma’s escape. At that, it would have been a searing story of love and creativity under dire circumstances. Jack is to all appearances an active, inquisitive, normal boy, albeit a boy with inanimate objects for friends and no conception of the world beyond his walls. Instead Donoghue touches the world anew through Jack’s eyes – the bright vastness and the feel of the breeze in the open air. New people, new sounds, new experiences – all overwhelming at times. Too often we are desensitized by the common and everyday. Room brings back the mix of excitement and trepidation of the unfamiliar.
Having read the book in advance, I am now lucky to have snagged preview tickets for the film. I plan to assiduously avoid reviews until after I bring fresh eyes to the screen on Wednesday. For now, I can wholeheartedly recommend you read the book. Next week I’ll see if the movie can capture Jack and Ma’s world.
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