Review of The Door in the Floor (2004) by Harry T — 16 Jun 2007

The secret behind a good book to movie adaptation, is to not be too true to the book. This one focuses on just the opening chapters of John Irvings novel "Widow for a year", and the end result is a movie that's better than the book.

A young student, who wants to be a writer, gets a summer job as an assistant for the writer Ted. It seems as if what Ted mostly needs help to, is for someone to drive his car (Ted is often drunk, and has lost his driver's license).

Ted lives in a loveless marriage with his wife, after they lost their two sons in a car crash. But strangely the young student becomes involved with the writer's wife, and all sorts of stuff happens.

Good performances by the actors is helped by a focused script by the author himself.