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Home Room

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Home Room (2002)

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Reviews Counted:9

Fresh:2

Rotten:7

Average Rating:4.6/10

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong language and some violent images

Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Sep 5, 2003 Limited

Synopsis: In the aftermath of a small town high school shooting, nine are killed and one, popular Deanna (Erika Christensen), is wounded. As students and the victims' relatives try to make sense of the... In the aftermath of a small town high school shooting, nine are killed and one, popular Deanna (Erika Christensen), is wounded. As students and the victims' relatives try to make sense of the situation, Deanna recuperates in the hospital. A detective (Victor Garber) is given the difficult task of laying the blame on someone, and he focuses his attention on Alicia (Busy Philipps), an intense, outsider-type student who was the only witness to the entire incident. A clearly troubled and unpopular girl, Alicia is forced by the school principal to visit Deanna daily in the hospital. While Deanna, though troubled by the ordeal, is friendly and sociable, Alicia is angry and verbally abusive. Over the course of days, however, the girls form a bond that arises out of coping with great tragedy. Small but ambitious, HOME ROOM deals with the sensitive subject of teenage gun violence sensitively and intelligently. With the intimate style of a stage play, Paul F. Ryan's screenplay attempts to examine the senseless aftermath of a school shooting, from every angle. Busy Philips's carries the film with her magnetic performance of Alicia, the troubled goth girl who hides her secrets with a tough exterior. [More]

Starring: Busy Philipps, Erika Christensen, Victor Garber, Ken Jenkins

Starring: Busy Philipps, Erika Christensen, Victor Garber, Ken Jenkins, Holland Taylor, James Pickens, Raphael Sbarge

Director: Paul F. Ryan

Director: Paul F. Ryan
Screenwriter: Paul F. Ryan

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Oct 14, 2003

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Reviews for Home Room

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1 - 9 (sorted by date)
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Weighted by good intentions, Ryan turns a potentially riveting story of two lost souls shaken by trauma into a sappy teen drama.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
09/12/03
Erika Gonzalez
Erika Gonzalez
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Alicia and Deanna's journey toward friendship, or at least a truer understanding, is moving.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
09/12/03
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In the midst of this didactic, self-conscious movie about a high school shooting comes an extraordinary and intense performance by a young actress named Busy Philipps, which elevates the whole picture.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
09/08/03
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Overall, it plays like the world's longest -- over two hours -- after-school special.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/05/03
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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Too often crosses the line between good melodrama and rank cliché.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/05/03
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
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At 133 minutes, Home Room is sluggishly paced and refuses to lighten up for even a second.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/04/03
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With an unconscionably long running time of 2 hours and 11 minutes for what is essentially a two-hander between Philipps and Christensen, Home Room feels like detention -- without the possibility of recess.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/04/03
Kevin Crust
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Overwrought, way too long, and rife with emotional implausibilities, the film comes very close to being an affront to the memory of the victims of these real-life catastrophes, because very little in it comes very close to being real.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
09/04/03
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
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Badly acted and, running well over two hours, often mind-numbingly ponderous.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/02/03
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
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