Review of Room 237 (2012) by Johnny T — 05 Nov 2013

The human brain is a marvellously suggestible organ. The documentary Room 237 is an ostensibly thoughtful deep reading, a deconstruction of Stanley Kubrick's film of Stephen King's 1980 novel "The Shining." What it really is, is a bunch of obsessives obsessing about an obsessive movie maker's obsessive movie. The film raises very interesting ideas about how we view a film, about what happens if we take the act of viewing down to a deeper, molecular level, and about how a movie's significance and effect need not be those intentionally willed by the director. Room 237 becomes not a film about "The Shining" or even a film about film. Rather, it is an examination of the nature of obsession, about how we are capable of convincing ourselves - and possibly others - that just about anything might be true. I found most of what's actually put forth in the film interpretively ridiculous. But I'm just one theorist among millions, and the film worked for me anyway. After all, the documentary itself stands as a thrilling testament to the fact that art is - and should be - open to interpretation.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film... (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).