Horst_In_Translation Review of Room 10

Room 10 (2006)

Too generic and not worth seeing (with one exception)

[4/10 · 16 March 2019]

"Room 10" is an American 20-minute live action short film from 2006, so this one will soon have its 15th anniversary and it was written and directed by Andrea Buchanan. For her it has been the only directorial effort o this date and I can see why. I found nothing about the technical side impressive here. Her co-director is successful actress Jennifer Aniston by the way and this fits in pretty nicely with her career, a seemingly touching story with emotional depth that stays very shallow though if you take a closer look. And the epitome of a truly empty character that is played by Golden Globe winner Robin Wright (Penn) here. She was literally just there throughout the entire movie and it sucks to see two females direct an actually talented female actress and that is the outcome. The better performance comes from Oscar nominee Kris Kristofferson, who was already around the age of 70 when this was released back in 2006. His monologue earlier in the film is really good and it could have been truly memorable with some better writing. His second scene involving the old woman's death is sadly as generic as the rest of the movie. In general, I must say it did not feel too realistic that this was happening all at the same time and Wright not even knowing him or her apparently before entering room 10. For drama's sake I suppose. But again not too close to reality. So I give this hospital-centered film a thumbs-down as a whole as Wright's character transformation was at the center of the film and from that perspective it was not a triumph. Kristofferson was just means to that core plot. Don't watch it unless you really love the actors from House of Cards or A Star is Born (and I am sure that one is superior to the far too long Gaga/Cooper mediocrity). Best choice may be to skip "Room 10".