Lose yourself in the Lost Room (The Lost Room (DVD))

Member Name: Mildew82

Product:	The Lost Room (DVD)
Date:	07/11/09 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliantly constructed Sci-Fi world, engrossing storyline

Disadvantages: Left hanging at the end with no chance of a resolution

The Lost Room is a three part miniseries that aired in the US on the 11th December 2006 on the Sci-Fi channel. Since then it has gained a massive cult following due to the fascinatingly mysterious and intricate Sci-Fi world created.


The History
_________

In 1961 an "Event" took place which caused an ordinary motel room from the Sunshine Motel on Route 66 to be wrenched out of normal reality and the objects within to gain strange and often desirable properties. There is no accurate number for how many of these objects actually exist scattered around the world but it is suspected to be around 100.


The Objects
~~~~~~~~~~

These objects are all the type of things you would expect to find in a motel room such as an ashtray, furniture, pens and pencils, a clock, pillows, an umbrella - just normal day to day objects, things you could see anywhere and not think twice about.

The range of properties for these objects also varies greatly from the exceptionally useful to the completely pointless which makes some objects more desirable than others. For example, the wristwatch will give you a perfect hard-boiled egg when placed within the band (hard to see the life-changing properties of that one) and the pencil will produce a 1961 cent every time it is tapped (may take some time to reach millionaire status).

On the other hand some objects are exceptionally useful, for example the umbrella gives any passerby the sense that they know the owner, the nail file induces a brief sleep in a person that sees reflected light from its surface and the pen will emit microwaves which can be used as a weapon on organisms by electrocution or to destroy electronic circuitry.

But by far the most desirable object is the key to motel room 10 which acts like a skeleton key and can open any hinged door with a lock and take the owner to the Lost Room. From there the owner can go to any location they choose as long as there is a door to exit from which is a fantastic way to escape a dangerous situation or to travel great distances in minimal time.

However, one other important fact is that objects when used together can create an entirely different effect, but the possibilities go up exponentially when considering the number of different combinations possible.

As good as having these objects sounds, they actually seem to bring nothing but bad luck to the owner with threats from seekers trying to steal the object from them. The objects seem to have a magnetic attraction between them as if they are trying to reunite which puts any owner in danger.

For a complete listing of all the known objects and their powers if you are interested you can go to:

http://personal.inet.fi/koti/kuutii/LostRoom/obje ctlist.html


The Cabals
~~~~~~~~

As with any thing in life that will give people the chance to gain power, these objects can be used for good as well as evil. Naturally there are opposing forces that want to collect and gain control of all these objects and these groups organised themselves into Cabals:

The Collectors - The original group of object seekers led by the Sunshine Motel manager Arlene Conroy that formed shortly after The Event before the rest of the world even knew of their existence. An experiment of disastrous proportions led to most of them being killed or driven insane in 1966 and the survivors buried the objects in the "Collectors' vault".

The Legion - The Cabal dedicated to collecting and preventing the objects from creating more harm. They follow a strict moral code and refuse to kill in their quest to gain ownership of any objects.

The Order of Reunification - This Cabal has the belief that God died and that the objects are parts of His corpse and must be reunited in order to communicate with God, or even more disturbingly that the restorer will actually become God. This Cabal is not against killing to gain ownership.


The Plot
______

The story of the Lost Room revolves around single dad Joe Miller, a Pittsburgh detective who inadvertently gains possession of The Key and discovers The Room. But tragedy strikes when his daughter, Anna, gets lost in the room and he ends up as a fugitive suspected of kidnapping his daughter as part of an ongoing custody battle whilst desperately trying to find a way to bring her back.

As he delves deeper into the world of the objects and begins learning the full extent of their power he finds himself caught up in the battle between The Legion and the Order of the Reunification. He has to seek assistance from the Legion in the guise of Jennifer Bloom who has suffered personal tragedy from the dangerous effects of the Objects and from several owners of certain Objects who provide him with vital information.

But as these owners' personal agendas begin to surface he begins to wonder just who he can trust and just whether he will ever get his daughter back from the Lost Room.


The Cast
_______

Peter Krause - Joe Miller
Julianna Margulies - Jennifer Bloom
Peter Jacobson - Wally Jabrowski
Dennis Christopher - Dr. Martin Ruber
April Grace - Lee Bridgewater
Elle Fanning - Anna Miller
Kevin Pollak - Karl Kreutzfeld
Chris Bauer - Lou Destefano
Roger Bart - Howard 'The Weasel' Montague


My Thoughts
__________

The concept of this show is brilliantly constructed and sucks you into an intriguing new reality where possibilities seem endless. I particularly like the fact the show remains shrouded in mystery as the reason for the Event is never fully explained which leaves you desperate for more. The clever idea of having innocuous looking day-to-day objects having mystical powers adds the fantastic Sci-Fi element to this show. There is also a sense of order to the series where each episode focuses on a specific object and you learn all about its properties and importance.

As well as being a great Sci-Fi show, The Lost Room also works as a tense and fast paced thriller with a heavy dosage of danger per episode and strong sense of an ever approaching deadline before time runs out for Joe's daughter. There is also a little bit of humour mixed in as well derived from the interactions of Joe with some of the more eccentric characters he comes across, particularly The Weasel and the Wally, both slightly disturbed by their experiences with the Objects.

The overall acting standard was exceptionally high in this series. Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) was excellent as the desperate detective willing to stop at nothing to save his child. His fear and panic were utterly believable and he showed great dexterity in switching from a more emotional role to that of an action man. There was also excellent chemistry between him and his daughter played by the sweet Elle Fanning which made the pain he felt from her loss even more tangible.

Julianna Margulies (Carol Hathaway from ER) has never been blessed with the best acting skills, bless her, and she was probably a slightly weak link in this series. She wasn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but at times she was a little wooden and was never entirely believable, but thankfully she had more supporting than pivotal role and so didn't dampen the series too much.

The rest of the supporting cast were top notch, with much kudos to go particularly to Peter Jacobson and Roger Bart as their wacky characters Wally and The Weasel which added to the overall eccentricity of the show, and also to Kevin Pollak (Usual Suspects) who played the shadowy Karl Kreutzfeld with unerring accuracy.

The only thing that slightly annoyed me was the fact the final episode didn't really tie up all the loose ends - in fact for as many questions that were answered there were probably as many new ones. This would have been fine if there was going to be a second series but as far as I'm aware there is never going to be one, so I felt slightly cheated.


The DVD
_______

The DVD is actually divided into 6 episodes of 42 mins approx rather than the original 3 episodes that were aired which makes it more manageable to watch each episode rather than having to devote nearly 2 hours per episode of your undoubtedly precious time.

Episode List:

1. The Key
2. The Clock
3. The Comb
4. The Box
5. The Eye
6. The Occupant

The only special feature on the DVD is the "Inside the Lost Room - The Making Of" which has interviews with some of the cast, writers and director which give a little insight into the inner workings of the show and the thought processes in creating the world. I don't tend to watch these types of special features as they generally destroy the illusion of stories for me which I of course believe are 100% real and in not anyway fictitious.

Country: USA
Runtime: 252 minutes (episodes only)
Certificate: 12


Conclusion
_________

The Lost Room is a superbly intelligent, extremely well thought out thriller with a solid Sci-Fi foundation enhanced by an excellent cast and gripping storyline. It has rightly gained a massive cult following and will definitely be liked by fans of such shows as Lost (although personally I wouldn't compare the two).

I only wish there had been a second series but despite being left a little hanging at the end of it all this is a wonderful series that any Sci-Fi fan will love.

Summary: A fabulous Sci-Fi thrill which has acheived cult status