Review of The Door in the Floor (2004) by Tim B — 18 Aug 2004

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange][font=Arial][i]The Door in the Floor[/i] (Tod Williams, 2004)[/font] [/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]Jeff Bridges nearly holds together this dark and dreary adaptation of John Irving?s [i]A Widow for One Year[/i]. The comedic moments, few and far between though they are, actually work better than the sometimes ponderous drama of the young summer assistant?s affair with the emotionally catatonic wife of his writer-hero. It?s mostly Bridges? yeoman effort that makes you want to appreciate the film for what it tries to accomplish, even if its reach does exceed its grasp. [/color][/size][/font].

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[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange][font=Arial][i]The Hand that Rocks the Cradle[/i] (Curtis Hanson, 1992)[/font] [/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]This never really rises above the level of a cheap thriller, riffing on the ?stranger in our midst? theme. Practically the definition of mediocre, down to the disabled black handyman who is misunderstood but proves his worth in the end.[/color][/size][/font].

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[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange][font=Arial][i]Double Indemnity[/i] (Billy Wilder, 1944)[/font] [/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]Billy Wilder has a couple of superior films, including one I?ll review/admire shortly, but this is his film noir classic, worthy of its own fired-up accolades. After all, any film that can turn an insurance term into a code for suspense must have something going for it. Well, lots of things, like Wilder, who nails the noir genre with his subtle understanding of blacks and whites; Raymond Chandler, who (with Wilder?s help) turns James M. Cain?s novel into a tight thriller with crisp dialogue; a fuckin? A-cast led by Fred MacMurray turning blandness into an asset as the dope who thinks he can make a big score even though he should know all the odds are against him and Barbara Stanwyck showing that classic beauty isn?t always what?s needed to turn a man down a dark path. And not least Edward G. Robinson, who gets a whole sentence of his own because he?s that damn good. [/color][/size][/font].

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[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange][font=Arial][i]My Fair Lady[/i] (George Cukor, 1964)[/font] [/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]Okay, Audrey Hepburn?s Eliza Doolittle really did get on my nerves in the first half of this film, what with all the screeching?maybe this was the only way to sympathize with Henry Higgins. But as musicals go, this has some terrific set pieces (none more so than the scene at the Ascor races) and Rex Harrison is, well, he?s so deliciously evil. (All that [i]Family Guy[/i] watching really stacked the deck for this movie.) If I say I was delighted, does that make me gay?[/color][/size][/font].