The Lost Room (2006) (TV Mini)
Directed by Craig R. Baxley, Michael W. Watkins.
Starring Dennis Christopher, Julianna Margulies, Kevin Pollak, Peter Krause, Roger Bart, Elle Fanning.
Lions Gate Films; aired on the SciFi Channel. 4 episodes.
Self and spouse sat down to check on Peter Krause post-Six Feet Under. Summary: he's still Nate. Back now with Julianna Margulies instead of Rachael Griffiths and Lili Taylor. What a life.
Please write in and explain Julianna Margulies' eyes to me. What is going on with those eyes? They're semi-opaque or...? The greatest eyes currently on the big screen.
The Lost Room is presented in 4 episodes. We watched a complete episode and when I checked the box, I discovered that it was Episode 3. So we dropped into the movie at midpoint without noticing. I mean, when you start watching a movie, you expect some things to be explained as you go along, and they were explained, elliptically. So at the end of the episode, the question for us was, go on to 4 or go back to the beginning? Spouse wanted to go back to 1, but I thought the whole thing was a little thin in the first place, even without having to sit through the first half. So instead of returning to Blockbuster and picking up 1 & 2, I brought home Barton Fink and we watched that again.
The Lost Room takes a big risk by assembling a collection of everyday objects and assigning each a super power. (And of course, the powers turn out to be just what is needed at each crisis point in order to advance the plot. E.g., the little travel clock "sublimates copper," turning copper from solid metal directly to gas, all without heat or light; so that when the protagonists find themselves in a locked room, the hinges of the door are made of, yes, copper.) The risk is that when each object is employed, a certain silliness can infuse the scene: the little clock is set down on the floor; a pause; the locked door falls over. A woman points her scissors at Nate; violence insues. And then we've got the nailclippers and the shoe and the... I can just hear Baxley: "Ladies, check your purses. We need tweezers!"