Review of The Door in the Floor (2004) by Corey C — 11 Aug 2004

[size=2][center][b]Cast[/b][/center].

[center]Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Jon Foster, Elle Fanning, Bijou Phillips, Mimi Rogers[/center].

[center][b]Writer[/b][/center].

[center]John Irving (novel)[/center].

[center]Tod Williams[/center].

[center][b]Director[/b].

Tod Williams[/center].

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[left]Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger star as the long time married couple Ted and Marion Cole, and as [i]The Door in the Floor[/i] opens we find them at the breaking point of their relationship. There's always something interesting to me when a film focusing on a dysfunctional family immediately throws the audience into their lives at the most confusing time, especially if we know nothing about the characters yet. This builds high curiosity and suspense perfectly.

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[left]Ted and Marion have a young daughter named Ruth (played by Elle Fanning) who spends most of her time with her father. He has been an award winning children's book author for quite some time and has brought his family riches. They have a large house that sits alone by the beach without any neighbors in sight. Marion keeps to herself and is practically a mute. She completely neglects everything in her life, including Ruth. We find her in the beginning spending most of her time sitting in her car staring at the left turn signal blinking over and over. Director Tod Williams does a good job early on by making Ted and Marion unpredictable. He creates confusion for the audience as they try to decide who to trust. Ted suggests that he and Marion separate for a short period of time and that they trade off spending nights at the home with Ruth while the other stays at Ted's studio in town.

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[left]Enter the aspiring writer named Eddie (first time actor Jon Foster) who Ted has offered a room and some lessons in exchange for some help around the house. Eddie is a high schooler who has recently received his driver's license and is at the height of sexual curiosity, so you can only imagine the feelings he takes towards Marion when she surprises him by picking him up as he arrives off of the ferry. She immediately notices the attraction towards her and gradually encourages it more and more because she too feels things for Eddie. As the summer begins Eddie has many questions to ask Ted about his books and about any tips he could give down to him, and Ted constantly puts it off. "There will be time for that in the near future." Instead, Ted orders Eddie around on tiny little tasks each day, mainly driving him to Evelyn Vaughn's house. This is due to the fact that Ted lost his driver's license many years ago for reasons unknown. At Evelyn Vaughn's, as he tells Eddie, Ted paints his illustrations for the children's books. Eddie realizes even in the beginning that Ted doesn't only paint at Evelyn Vaughn's, but at first he doesn't even care about it because his mind is constantly on Marion, who he soon begins an affair with. As the days and weeks go by there is a sense that Ted knows what is going on between Eddie and Marion, but he treats it like it were nothing. It's a really frightening character played beautifully by Jeff Bridges. As the odd and scary events of a torn family unfold and Eddie finds himself stuck in the middle, he quickly sees his once admired idol wither away into nothing while he falls in love with his wife.

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[left]I know it seems as though I have revealed most of what the premise contains, but the truth is that I haven't at all. There are incidents, especially behind the corruption of the marriage that I wouldn't dare go into. That is where the real story lies. Also, I don't want to give off the wrong impression on my opinion towards the film either. I was interested and taken in immediately by the story here and especially by the relationship between Ted and Marion. Tod Williams went into this with one amazing story from the novel by John Irving, I just think he walked off the plank somewhere near the end, or maybe earlier than that. It's heartbreaking to come out dissatisfied by something that drew you in throughout and had such huge promise. I think the character of Eddie, who is the most vital in the story, never really comes alive enough or stands out or has real feelings like he most definitely should have. When horrible things happen to him I found myself not caring one bit. Maybe it's the different amount of focus Williams spent on developing Eddie, or maybe it's the way Jon Foster approached the role. Something about it just wasn't affectiung me the way it could have, and that gives the film a big bruise. As far as Ted and Marion go, they are two magnificent characters. Although I have never liked Basinger in a role, and that includes this one, I still became involved with Marion because the character is so interesting that it made me forget about the acting and consider her as a real person. Ultimately though, Ted Cole is the reason to see [i]The Door in the Floor[/i]. He evokes a hideous persona even before he speaks, and Bridges plays him to perfection.

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[left]In a cinematic world where we only consider serial killers and comic book mutants villains, let us not forget a character like this, for he could quite possibly be living down the street from you. Even though I found myself slightly disliking this film Bridges evil portrayal is enough to see [i]The Door in the Floor[/i]. It's awesome to watch. [/left].

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[left]Rated R - 1 hour, 51 minutes[/left].

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