Home Room

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Home Room ★★★ 2002 (R)

Philipps and Christensen shine in this riveting story of two girls on opposite end of the high school social spectrum who survive a Columbine-type massacre. Popular, affluent Deanna (Christensen) was seriously injured in the attack and is hospitalized. Alienated loner Alicia (Philipps) was near the perpetrator when he was killed, and is believed to be somehow involved. When Alicia is forced to visit Deanna in the hospital, the two eventually form a friendship and learn to cope with the aftermath of the incident. The two leads are excellent, with a breakout performance by Philipps, and the film wisely sticks to the story of their unlikely friendship, pushing other plotlines to the background. 133m/C VHS, DVD . Busy Philipps, Erika Christensen, Victor Garber, Raphael Sbarge, Ken Jenkins, Holland Taylor, Arthur Taxier, James Pickens Jr., Constance Zimmer, Richard Gilliland, Roxanne Hart, Agnes Bruckner, Nathan West, Ben Gould, Jenette Goldstein, Vernee Watson-Johnson; D: Paul F. Ryan; W: Paul F. Ryan; C: Mike Shapiro; M: Rebecca Baehler.