ACTORS HOLD NOTHING BACK IN THOUGHTFUL DRAMA.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

If God is in the details, ``In the Bedroom'' might be the closest we get to a religious experience in movie theaters this year. Todd Field's filmmaking debut so expertly conveys the soul-shattering grief that overtakes an upstanding rural Maine couple that the movie will likely haunt your dreams long after you've left the theater. Involving, without ever being exploitative, ``Bedroom'' is both a masterful character study and taut thriller, a neat little trick that Field manages to pull off without sacrificing much of the movie's integrity.

Field, a 37-year-old actor best-known for his work in ``Eyes Wide Shut'' and ``Ruby in Paradise,'' co-wrote the screenplay, basing it on a short story by Andre Dubus. Apparently fond of westerns, Dubus gave his work all sorts of showdowns - physical and emotional. But in bringing the story to the screen, Field succeeds best in his ability to convey knowledge and emotion through the smallest of features - a rusting swing set, a photograph, a long-forgotten rung on a tree.

Matt and Ruth Fowler are a middle-age couple living in idyllic Camden, Maine. Matt (Tom Wilkinson) is a doctor; Ruth (Sissy Spacek) leads a school choir. They have a son, Frank (Nick Stahl), in college, as well as an abundance of friends, good standing in the community and a marriage that is still both loving and vital.

Frank has always been popular with girls, but his latest paramour, Natalie (Marisa Tomei, quite good in a change-up role for her), is different. She's a woman, a few years older than Frank, with two small children and a soon-to-be ex-husband (William Mapother) who's not exactly happy to be on the outside looking in. Natalie doesn't share Frank's breeding or background, but the two seem to be enough in love to turn their summer fling into something more permanent.

Then an act of sudden, senseless violence changes everything. And the Fowlers, stunned, cope with their grief the New England way - by not saying much and, in Matt's case, drinking a little more than he should. Field takes his time with this portion of the movie, letting the couple's sorrow simmer until everything - career resentments, power struggles, bitterness over marital roles - comes spilling out in a vicious truth-telling session that is the movie's most powerful scene.

And then for an encore, Field shifts tone once again and turns his movie into a thriller. At first this seems like an abrupt and somewhat misguided decision, but Field makes it work by - again - providing the audience with enough details and small moments to give the action a startling psychological dimension. And because Field never deviates from the movie's calm, composed tone, the final scenes have a hypnotic power in their suggestion that grief is eternal - no matter how one tries to escape it.

Wilkinson and Spacek shared a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival for their understated work in the film, and it's likely not the first time they will be recognized. Wilkinson makes Matt's spiral into the unthinkable believable by revealing flaws in this good man's facade throughout the early part of the film. When he catches Frank and Natalie at a lunchtime tryst, he forces them to come downstairs and have coleslaw with him, reveling in his ability to manipulate the situation. It's a talent that will come in handy later.

Spacek, long one of our most gifted actresses, ferociously shows why grief and bitterness are often intertwined. She tells a friend that the sorrow ``comes in waves, then nothing, like a rest in music.'' But the anger is always there, silent and toxic. It's a fearless performance in a movie that, more often than not, has the courage of its convictions. You'll be hearing a lot about this film in the coming months.

``IN THE BEDROOM''

(Rated R: some violence and language)

The stars: Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Marisa Tomei, Nick Stahl, William Mapother.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Todd Field. Screenplay by Field and Rob Festinger, based on a story by Andre Dubus. Released by Miramax Films.

Running time: Two hours, 10 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills; Laemmle's Monica in Santa Monica.

Our rating: Three and one half stars

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Photo:

Marisa Tomei, left, Sissy Spacek and Christopher Adams star in director Todd Field's ``In the Bedroom.''