Best Actor 2001: Tom Wilkinson in In The Bedroom

Tom Wilkinson received his first nomination of two (so far) for playing a father who revenge for the death of his son in In The Bedroom.

In the Bedroom is a very interesting film, and Wilkinson who is always a great character actor gets a meatier part here. In the Bedroom follows the story of the father and the mother and their relationship with their son, then to the different ways they deal with his murder.

Wilkinson gets the bigger part here and he does everything with it. Wilkinson is just completely brilliant throughout the whole film, and his performance only gets better and better as the film progresses. Wilkinson smartly plays the loving and supportive father and husband very well. I like how he handles every scene with Nick Stahl. Wilkinson shows so much without saying that much, he really creates layers to the character that requires a great actor like him. Later after the untimely death of his son, Wilkinson gives one of the most effective portrait of restrained grief put on film. His facial expressions and his one breakdown and crying scene hit the perfect tone, and are hard to forget. Wilkinson is perfectly quiet until his big fight seen with his wife played by Sissy Spacek. This seen simply could not have been done better by either actor, they are just so raw and effective. Thanks to the actors the scene is simply unforgettable and amazing. Their fight is interrupted and when they wanted to forgive each other this scene is just the same, perfect. His last scenes which certainly could have gone the wrong way, but they do not. His scene of revenge is not overdone or over the top in anyway. Instead he delivers the proper amount of subtle anger and a sort of satisfaction that is as perfect as the rest of the performance. For this he gets: