(Just hear me out, OK?) Stories about school shootings have always fascinated me. I DO NOT encourage or support the killers' actions, but it gives us a different look into human psychology. Specifically, the case of Columbine has been the one I slightly obsess over. Dylan and Eric had a complex (but very sick and reprehensible) philosophy. This movie is one of the many, many school shooting themed movies made after the events at Columbine.After watching the trailer I thought Alicia was simply a tough girl with an "alternative" style, such as Lisbeth from the Millennium trilogy. Instead, she just ended up being a melodramatic young adult. While the build up to the end of the movie where it explains why she is the way she is kept me interested, it simply wasn't satisfying. Alicia and Deanna were not fleshed out enough.ALICIA went through a traumatizing event, the idea it turned her into a completely opposite person is very overdramatic. She's just way too vicious and unsympathetic. She looked and acted entirely different than her former self, yet she had a caring father and many people tried helping her through her pain. Alicia was an excuse to put a goth kid into the movie. After Columbine, the goth and metalhead scenes were very often considered responsible for school shooter attitudes and mentalities. Music promoting philosophies such as Satanism and nihilism (like Marilyn Manson) were turned into scapegoats. It represented social outcasts in high schools, which Eric and Dylan were. You'll find that a plethora of these post-Columbine movies where a teen is emotionally distressed is also goth. It was basically obligatory. Also, Alicia's lesbianism comes out of completely nowhere. She said earlier that she finds men in their late thirties more sexually attractive than guys around her age.DEANNA mentions that people only like her because she's rich and trendy. She's got the nice car and hangs out with the preppy "in" kids. At the same time, she's kinda nerdy - she gets good grades and even mentions being in a mathematics contest. It would have been great if being in the hospital room for so long changed her into a different person, like the room acted as some kind of cocoon for personal growth. (That's only a minor complaint though.) Before Deanna can attempt suicide, Alicia convinces her not to and says something along the lines of "You need to tell your parents to get you out of that room." It was already established that she demanded to go back out in the world many times but HAD to stay in that room so her injuries could fully heal and receive counseling for her PTSD.THE SHOOTER is never really established. He killed 16 kids because that's just what socially outcasted kids do. That's what Alicia declared, but it's never actually explored any further. Dylan and Eric had many anger problems. Eric got even more violent because some antidepressants can cause that in people which was evident in his case. It wasn't just that they were outcasts. In fact, Dylan had a good number of acquaintances. However, he also had anger issues so Eric's social Darwinism philosophy was seen as reasonable to him.IN THE END it's a rather mediocre/average movie in terms of story structure and character building. Convincing and notable acting. Appropriate setting. Some clever bits here and there. The scenes feel in order and flow into the following ones. Keeps the audience interested.

Without even delving into how good the movie was the dialogue between the actresses was some of the best iv'e ever seen . Alicia Browning is one of the best characters iv'e come across. So complex and compelling to like dispute her seemingly cold hearted and emotionless exterior. She's a strong character and showcases the acting prowess of Busy Phillips in a light fitting for one of her first major roles . I marveled at the things Alicia said in disbelief , awe , and appreciation. I came to love the character often enjoying her going at it with any and everyone.More astonishing is the banter between the clashing personalities of Deena And the aforementioned Alicia as they are polar opposites only interacting due to circumstances which proved to yield much entertainment for the viewer . The movie is dark but thats a positive point . It does it well . I literally wasn't ready for it to end . That means something and speaks volumes for how attached i was to the characters . I wanted to see what else was to come in their lives.I have no complaints with this film . It's phenomenal

I first heard about "Home Room" one night when I was reading an on-line list of The Most Disturbing Movies. I had saved about 5 movies on that list to my Netflix instant queued including this one. When I finally got to it on my list, I was expecting a violent bloody thriller, since most of the movies on that list included Last House on the Left, The Human Centipede, Martyrs, and The Lost. I couldn't have been more wrong. This was a great, emotional, sad, and intense drama about the aftermath of a school shooting. I enjoyed it so much that after streaming it on Netflix, I literally went to my computer and ordered the DVD. I don't know how I had never heard of this movie until 9 years after its release.The movie is about Deanna (Erika Christensen), a smart popular girl who is injured during the shooting and is in the hospital recovering. Not only is she recovering physically, but emotionally too. She still has nightmares and flashbacks of the incident. Alicia (Busy Philipps) is a goth-like loner with an attitude who also was in the room the shooting took place. The police have questioned Alicia due to the fact that she was friends with the shooter. When the principal forces Alicia to visit Deanna in the hospital, both of their lives begin to change. Even though they have nothing in common, they begin to form a bond and realize that they both do have something in common; they both are lonely and appreciate each other's company.The scenes with both Alicia and Deanna are very powerful. Christensen and Philipps do an extraordinary job of acting and its so believable. This, I believe, is both actresses best work in any of their films. I am not ashamed to say that I get very emotional every time I watch this movie; especially the ending. The most frustrating part about it all, is that hardly anybody even knows about this movie. I didn't until a month ago. I was happy to read such positive reviews on this film. Its a movie that will stay with you for a long time in a positive way. I read in the Trivia section that Richard Roeper wrote about this movie in his book, so I purchased his book and he made some great points about this film. It truly is a "Lost Film" that should have gotten more recognition. I think it should be re-released with more advertising. Its a shame that independent films don't always get the attention they should. The acting in "Home Room" is better than the acting in most of the films released the same year. I hope these positive reviews help spread the word about how great this movie is. I only wish I had watched it sooner. Definitely one of my favorites!

At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this movie when it came up on my guide so I looked it up on IMDb and thought the cover looked pretty cool so I thought I would give it a try expecting a movie like Elephant.Once I got past the fact that I am supposed to dislike the Alicia character played excellently by Busy Phillips, I realized what a good job this movie was doing toward setting up the relationship between Alicia and Deanna. Alicia is so mean to Deanna played by Erika Christensen almost throughout the entire movie but we eventually find out that they despite being polar opposites they have one thing in common besides being present at the shooting. They share loneliness and to what extent is revealed as the film progresses.I've just got to say how much I loved this movie and was glad to see all of the positive comments about it. I couldn't even get through Elephant because it just seemed to be exploiting the Columbine tragedy. This movie on the other hand was compelling and realistic. Busy Phillips acting is OFF the CHAIN!!! That is a good thing and I would love to see her progress into some more mature roles.