Home Room | |
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Directed by | Paul F. Ryan |
Written by | Paul F. Ryan |
Produced by | Ben Ormand |
Starring | Erika Christensen Busy Philipps Victor Garber Agnes Bruckner |
Music by | Mike Shapiro |
Distributed by | DEJ Productions |
Release date |
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Running time | 133 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Home Room is an independent film starring Erika Christensen, Busy Philipps and Victor Garber. It premiered in the Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival on 12 April 2002, and made its limited theatrical release on 5 September 2003.
Part of a series of articles on the |
Columbine High School massacre |
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Location: Perpetrators: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold |
A school massacre leaves seven students and the shooter's parents dead and one student named Deanna Cartwright (Christensen) seriously injured. The shooter himself is dead, shot by police during the confrontation after the actual shooting, and the only witness (and possible suspect) is Alicia Browning (Philipps), a goth student who is now under the attention of the detective in charge of the case, Det. Martin Van Zandt (Garber).
The school principal asks Alicia to visit Deanna in the hospital. Right away, their differences are evident. Alicia is an outsider from a single-parent family who shuns the society that similarly shuns her, while Deanna is from a wealthy family, gets good grades and is popular with her classmates.
At first, Deanna seems upbeat and cheerful, but soon it becomes apparent that beneath this exterior are psychological scars left behind by the incident. Alicia starts to empathize with her, as she herself is battling her own demons as well, including a previous suicide attempt. Through these similar emotional bonds, the two form an unlikely friendship as they both try to cope with their separate psychological problems.
Even though he started writing the script before the event, director Paul F. Ryan later based the film on the Columbine High School massacre; the film was released only three years after the incident. Ryan and Christensen visited Columbine High School before the film's release to speak to students, faculty and parents, who received a private screening of the film. The response was generally positive and Ryan has since returned as a guest of the school twice. [1]
While a large part of the public wishes to figure out why such massacres happen, some have lauded Home Room simply for not explaining why they happen; the film does not place blame on violent video games or movies, and concludes that finding a single reason for these events is impossible.
In addition, the film focuses on what happens to the community long after the news crews have left. In an interview, Ryan explains, "What changed my mind was watching what happened in Littleton afterwards. CNN reported the story for about two weeks, then left. The rest of America moved on, but the people in Littleton didn’t. How do you start living your life again after such a terrible thing?" [1]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 55%, based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critics consensus reads "Honorable intentions and some strong performances aren't enough to keep Home Room from occasionally slipping into distractingly didactic messaging". [2] On Metacritic, the film holds 43 out of a 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [3]
The Columbine High School massacre, often simply referred to as Columbine, was a school shooting and a failed bombing that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered twelve students and one teacher. Ten of the twelve students killed were in the school library, where Harris and Klebold subsequently died by suicide. Twenty-one additional people were injured by gunshots, and gunfire was also exchanged with the police. Another three people were injured trying to escape. The Columbine massacre was the deadliest mass shooting at a K-12 school in U.S. history, until December 2012. Columbine is still considered one of the most infamous massacres in the U.S. for inspiring many other school shootings and bombings; the word "Columbine" has since become a byword for modern school shootings. As of 2024, Columbine is still the deadliest school shooting in Colorado and one of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States.
A school shooting is an armed attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of a firearm. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple casualties. The phenomenon is most widespread in the United States, which has the highest number of school-related shootings, although school shootings take place elsewhere in the world. Especially in the United States, school shootings have sparked a political debate over gun violence, zero tolerance policies, gun rights and gun control.
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, produced, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Moore suggests are the primary causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of gun violence. He focuses on the background and environment in which the massacre took place and some common public opinions and assumptions about related issues. The film also looks into the nature of violence in the United States, and American violence abroad.
Elephant is a 2003 American psychological drama film written, directed and edited by Gus Van Sant. It takes place in Watt High School, in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The film begins a short time before the shooting occurs, following the lives of several characters both in and out of school, who are unaware of what is about to unfold. The film stars mostly new actors, including John Robinson, Alex Frost, and Eric Deulen.
Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were two American high school seniors and mass murderers who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. Harris and Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher and wounded 24 others. After killing most of their victims in the school's library, they died by suicide. At the time, it was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.
Cassie René Bernall was an American student who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre, where 11 more students and a teacher were killed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide. It was reported that Bernall had been asked whether or not she believed in God, and she said "Yes", before being shot during the massacre. However, investigators concluded the person who was asked about her belief in God was Valeen Schnurr, who survived the shooting.
Rachel Joy Scott was an American student who was the first fatality of the Columbine High School massacre, during which 11 other students and a teacher were also murdered by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide.
Columbine High School (CHS) is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States, in the Denver metropolitan area. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district.
Erika Jane Christensen is an American actress. Her filmography includes roles in Traffic (2000), Swimfan (2002), The Banger Sisters (2002), The Perfect Score (2004), Flightplan (2005), How to Rob a Bank (2007), The Tortured (2010), and The Case for Christ (2017). For her performance in Traffic, she won the MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture along with her co-stars.
The Red Lake shootings were a spree killing that occurred on March 21, 2005, in two places on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, United States. That afternoon, 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend at their home. After taking his grandfather's police weapons and bulletproof vest, Weise drove his grandfather's police vehicle to Red Lake Senior High School, where he had been a student some months before.
Zero Day is a 2003 American found footage drama film written and directed by Ben Coccio and starring Andre Keuck and Cal Robertson, revolving around a duo planning a school shooting through the perspective of a video filming camera.
Duck! The Carbine High Massacre is a 1999 American teen black comedy crime film about a school shooting. Released just over six months after the Columbine High School massacre event, it was written, produced and directed by William Hellfire and Joey Smack, who also starred. After the film was released, Hellfire and Smack were arrested for possession of weapons on school property. The film is said to have helped pay for Hellfire's legal fees.
Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is a role-playing video game created by Danny Ledonne and released in April 2005. The game recreates the 1999 Columbine High School shootings in Columbine, Colorado. Players assume the roles of gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and act out the massacre, with flashbacks relating parts of Harris and Klebold's past experiences. The game begins on the day of the shootings and follows Harris and Klebold after their suicides to fictional adventures in perdition.
Columbinus is a play written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli, with contributions by Josh Barrett, Sean McNall, Karl Miller, Michael Milligan and Will Rogers, created by the United States Theatre Project. The play looks at issues of alienation, hostility and social pressure in high schools and was suggested by the April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado. The play premiered in Silver Spring, Maryland in 2005 and then Off-Broadway in 2006.
Paul F. Ryan is an American film producer, director, and teacher. He is best known for writing, directing and producing the 1998 short film The List, and the 2002 independent film Home Room. He also teaches film and video production at the Brooks Institute in Ventura, California. as well as Chapman University in Orange, California.
I'm Not Ashamed is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Brian Baugh and based on the journals of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Columbine, Colorado. Scott, played by Masey McLain, serves as the protagonist of the film; the story of both gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, is intertwined with hers and this indicates the two were the antagonists. The film was distributed by Pure Flix Entertainment. It received generally negative reviews from critics and audiences. It performed poorly at the box office as well, with revenue of $2.1 million compared to the $1.5 million budget of the film.
She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall is a memoir by Misty Bernall about the life of her daughter Cassie Bernall who was killed during the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999.
The Columbine Memorial is a memorial in Columbine, Colorado, that honors the deceased and injured victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. The memorial is located in Clement Park, which is behind Columbine High School, the site of the massacre. It is operated by a non-profit institution whose mission is to operate the memorial and its upkeeping.
The Columbine effect is the legacy and impact of the Columbine High School massacre, which occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. The shooting has had an effect on school safety, policing tactics, prevention methods, and inspired numerous copycat crimes, with many killers taking their inspiration from Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold by describing the two perpetrators as being martyrs or heroes.
Senior Year is a 2022 American comedy film directed by Alex Hardcastle in his feature film directorial debut from a screenplay by Andrew Knauer, Arthur Pielli, and Brandon Scott Jones. The film stars Rebel Wilson as a 37-year-old woman who awakens from a 20-year coma and decides to go back to high school to earn her diploma. Her teenage version is played by Angourie Rice. Whilst Mary Holland, Sam Richardson, Zoe Chao, Justin Hartley, and Chris Parnell also star. The film was released by Netflix on May 13, 2022.