The Door in the Floor
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Movie Reviews of The Door in the Floor
Movie Review: Utterly Brilliant. One of the Best Character Dramas Ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Door in the Floor" has been adapted from the first third of John Irving's novel "A Widow for a Year". Screenwriter and director Tod Williams has chosen to dramatize one act of the novel, which seems a perfect story in itself, and has moved the story to the present day. Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) is a novelist and successful author of children's books. He and his wife Marion (Kim Basinger) share a home in the Hamptons that has become a shrine to their teenaged sons, who died a few years previously. Marion is still paralyzed by grief, overcome with the loss of her sons, and unable or unwilling to care for the couple's young daughter Ruth (Elle Fanning). Ted copes by drinking and philandering. In need of a driver, he hires Eddie (Jon Foster), an aspiring young writer from Exeter Academy, as his assistant for the summer. Eddie's presence awakens the maternal and sexual instincts in Marion, and they have an affair -with results that Ted did not anticipate.
Every year, there are a few good character dramas. I give them favorable reviews and then forget about them. I just don't get very excited about relationship stories. But "The Door in the Floor" astonished me. I don't think I've ever seen a more affecting drama of loss and love. The Cole's loss and their love for their children seem very real, which is rare. And nothing can overcome the repercussions of that loss. There isn't any melodrama. The characters are dysfunctional and unlikable in some ways, but actually not as neurotic as I've come to expect in modern drama. They know themselves and each other very well. They understand their situation, yet they can't change it. Marion Cole is the first really good performance I've seen from Kim Basinger. I used to think she couldn't act; now I wonder why hasn't until now. Jeff Bridges is always superb, and he makes Ted Cole's alcoholic, lecherous behavior sympathetic. His pompous, self-satisfied delivery is extraordinary in how it wounds and, at the same time, generates pathos. Jon Foster's Eddie is simultaneously innocent and perceptive.
Although "The Door in the Floor" is about people in emotionally desperate circumstances, the film has a great sense of humor. There are several scenes so funny that they are sure to provoke explosions of laughter. Both John Irving and Tod Williams see absurdity even in life's tragedies. Ted, Marion, and Eddie's needs and emotions are often expressed sexually, and this is one of the few films for which I think showing the sex is essential, since Marion and Eddie's characters evolve through their physical relationship. We wouldn't understand Marion's anguish or her awakening without the bedroom scenes. Williams' ability to seamlessly integrate sex scenes without altering the film's tone or pace is impressive and unusual. And he has perfectly balanced the drama with comedy, just as he achieved the perfect quiet tone for the film. I really can't compliment director Tod Williams enough on making a impeccably paced, beautiful, and thought-provoking film about interesting, flawed, but heartrending people in an impossible situation. Highly recommended.
The DVD: Bonus features include a making-of documentary, an interview with John Irving, "Anatomy of a Scene", and an audio commentary. The documentary, "Frame on the Wall" (25 minutes), includes interviews with Tod Williams, the cast, and principle crew, who discuss the characters and adapting the novel for the screen. In "Novel to Screen: John Irving" (15 minutes), novelist John Irving talks about the differences between the media of literature and film and how and why Tod Williams adapted the novel the way he did. "Anatomy of a Scene" (25 minutes), from the Sundance Film Channel, analyzes the scene at Mrs. Vaughn's house, where Ted tries to extricate himself from the relationship and ends up on the run. The audio commentary features 5 members of the film's creative team: writer/director Tod Williams, cinematographer Terry Stacey, editor Affonso Goncalves, composer Marcel Zarvos, and costume designer Eric Daman. The commentary is conversational, but interesting. It is about the technical aspects of the film, not much about the story. "Frame on the Wall" and the interview with John Irving are worthwhile sources for discussion of the story and characters. Captioning is available in English, subtitles in French and Spanish, and dubbing is available in French.
Movie Review: Frighteningly accurate, made bearable with a touch of comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
Becoming a parent can be the single most transitional time for a mother. This is the time she realizes the earth exists because of procreation. In her children, she sees the potential fulfillment of her every hope, her every dream. No matter how disappointed or confused she is about motherhood, she knows one thing: She would die for her children. She loves them endlessly. She knows these are not just words.
Marion (Kim Basinger) is scary because she is so real. Ask a roomful of mothers what they would do if their children died, and you might be suprised at how many say that would be the end of their life too.
(Spoiler warning!) Marion is the mother who killed herself when her children died -- even though she did not physically take her own life. She killed herself through deadening her heart.
She feels echoes of her husband's love, but he has (spoiler warning!) grabbed more firmly upon the bottle and other women to keep himself afloat and alive after the death of his sons. These distractions keep his life -- deceptively -- vibrant. Shallow, cold, distant, but (to cop the title of an old movie) "an Imitation of Life." He believes himself alive, but part of him has died, too.
Slowly, the realization of Ted's lifestyle filters through Marion's fog of dispair, giving her the strengh to leave -- completely.
This movie vividly expresses the sexual relationship between Marion and a young male assistant (to her husband) who represents both of the deeply powerful aspects of her sons -- popularity and shy wisdom.
While the character may seem perverse, I belive that Marion knew that this boy was not a flesh and blood son of hers, but rather a symbol. A Son. And she did not want the possibility of death to skew his chances of having the one thing that every teen boy values above all.
I can see where a viewer could become disgusted or confused, but I think the movie is rendered delicately enough to communicate its real message. A mother's mourning never ceases. Not through any life change, not through hope, not through anything.
Fortunately, there is enough sensitively-rendered comedy to help lift the darker moods of this movie.
Marion -- in the end -- was the central character. No other character was as important. I think it was clear in the sparse way she decorated her house, the sparse way she existed (without any care of pools or lawns or sociializing), that she had taken the role of the living dead.
Redeemingly, Kim Basinger added an element to Marion that made me think she loved her living daughter Ruth despite the fact that she (Marion) felt she had no love left in herself. (Spoiler warning!) Even when she left Ruth, you felt she loved Ruth, but that she could never acknowledge that love.
A painful, mysterious, all too real, then completely unreal movie. Five stars!
Movie Review: The best film of the summer!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Door in the Floor is a fantastic film; an engaging, engrossing, and touching change of pace from the utter garbage that has been released this summer. This is a true adult film if there ever was one, full of wonderful, complicated, and real characters going through true everyday emotions that anyone can relate to.
Alternately tragic and comic, the film is an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest moments. Adapted from the first half of John Irving's best-selling novel 'A Widow for One Year,' the film is set in the privileged beach community of East Hampton, New York and chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children's book author Ted Cole (an Oscar-worthy performance by Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger reminding us once again why she IS an Oscar-nominated actress). The couple's once-wonderful marriage has been strained by a family tragedy and neither one is or will ever be the same again.
Marion's resulting depression and Ted's subsequent infidelities have prevented the couple from facing a much-needed change in their relationship. They aren't divorced but they don't like together anymore either, taking turns staying in the house to care for their daughter (played by the adorable Elle Fanning, Dakota's sister). Then, Ted hires Eddie O'Hare, a 16 year old who wants to be a writer, to work as his summer assistant, changing the couple's lives forever. The boy becomes the couple's unwitting yet willing pawn - and, ultimately, becomes the catalyst in the transformation of their lives.
The Door in the Floor is a film of deep, devastating power - a film where you, as an audience member, actually share space with its two main characters. We inhabit their crumbled world, from the inside, not just as observers. By the end, we feel as if we have gone through their tragedy with them, and when I left the theatre, I felt as if my life had been changed by sharing with them what I just shared - as if time itself had stopped and left me suspended in there, with them.
The entire cast is very convincing and the film sparkles with dynamic performances. At first I felt Mimi Rogers was wasted in her almost silent role, but she has one of the most memorable scenes in the film, which came toward the end, and truly delivers a wonderful comedic portrayal. Elle Fanning amazed me. She is a gifted young talent and I look forward to seeing more of her. Like her sister Dakota, she did everything right. Jon Foster as Eddie is terrific, bringing out his character's innocence and confusion, and Bijou Phillips was great in her very small role.
The film is very explicit, but for anyone with an open mind and an open heart, it is THE film to see this summer. Hands down, one of the year's best. It definitely deserves and needs a wide release.
Grade: A
Movie Review: More than meets the eye
Summary: 5 Stars
Chance and circumstance. Intertwining myth, tragedy of heroic proportion, the fragility of illusion and appearances, this film gracefully exposes viewers to the depths of our bondage to our self-imposed archetypes. Dissolute Writer, The Lustful Boy, The Wounded Mother, The Spurned Lover. The walking wounded stumble and fall together in this luminous, beautifully crafted showcase for the acting skills of a stellar cast.
I found the most telling scene to be the one in which Eddie, looking up into the face of his lover Marion, sees her face contorted not with the passion of lust but the passion of grief. Marion's estranged husband Ted later points out to Eddie that he had "given" Eddie to her because of his resemblance to one of her dead sons. Marion herself had revealed the incestuous/cathartic nature of her desire for Eddie when she almost longingly confides in him her certainty/sorrow that this son had died a virgin, then almost in the same breath invites Eddie to lose his virginity to her. This act consummates her awareness that she must leave behind her enamored lover, her philandering husband, and her small daughter - that it's "better to be dead" than to be a poor mother.
There was plenty of room for this film to dissolve into cliche'd resolution of conflicts, but instead the story reveals the depth and intelligence and truthfulness of these character's flaws as if peeling away layers of silken veils. The deft and deep acting skills of the cast are marvelous to behold - it was breathtaking to watch the naturalness of Jeff Bridges as he arises from his bed and walks his tiny daughter back to hers, then stands in the doorway to toss her a few honest thoughts on fear, all the while content in his nudity. I found myself longing to be that uninhibited. It was an honor to see the aging actors reveal their characters, line by facial line, to watch the younger actors' romantic, brave, naivte', and yes, thank God for Mimi Rogers showing the desirability, vulnerability, and passion of a mature, healthy woman.
There were no "perfect" characters, no fluffy endings, nothing Hollywood about this film. It did not cheat. I highly recommend it to anyone capable of appreciating their own imperfections, the horrors of surviving your own chidren, and the struggle to understand and accept our human limitations.
Movie Review: One of the Best Films of 2004
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Door in the Floor" is based upon a portion of the novel
"A Widow for One Year" by John Irving (who wrote the book and
screenplay for "The Cider House Rules"). I've never read the book, but I can barely begin to explain how much I liked this movie. It is a very sad film and is very unique. I watchd the documentary on the DVd where Irving talked about the book and personally (even though i've never read the book) I think this portion is all that needs to be a movie.This movie entranced me in a way that most movies don't. The performances,ALL the performances are great.Kim Basinger in my oppinion gives the very best performance.The pain she expresses in the movie seems real. This is in my oppinion,an Oscar worth performance. As for Jeff Bridges,he also gives a stunning performance. I've not seen a lot of Jeff Bridges movies, I haven't even seen "Seabiscuit"
,"
but this film does feature the best performances of the year.
The movie,which is stunningly written, is about Ted Cole (Bridges). Ted is a childrens author who writes disturbing stuff that is almost funny in how sickly twisted it is. He lives with his wife Marion (Basinger) and his daughter Ruth (Elle Fanning,
who I think is related to Dakota Fanning). Marion is asically an empty shell. Their two sons are dead and Marion is still suffering from it, to such an extent she is not even able to express love for her daughter. Ted has grown tired of this so he suggests a summer separation. A very weird idea,involves them alternating when they stay at the house and when they stay at some apartment. For the summer,Ted hires young Eddie (Jon Foster)
as a writing assistant. Eddie falls in love with Marion, and begins masturbating to her clothes and such.Eventually Eddie and
Marion begin an affair, which Ted both encourages but also resents. The film which is truly a sad film features some hidden jokes. Like a scene where Ruth wakes up crying and Ted tries to find out whats wrong. Marion and Eddie eventually come in and this is what happens:
Marion:What's wrong?
Ted: She heard banging noises.
Marion:What kind of...banging noises?
The ending which is the type of ending I would typically hated, is weirdly perfect. It's also somewhat haunting. But,see this film. You will not regret it.A+