The Door in the Floor is a movie so good-looking and so finely tuned that it seems to have great written all over it. The score is lush, the characters are brooding and, as a dark domestic drama with moments of ironic humor, it works. As a film with fully developed characters and great performances all around, though, it lacks.
Jeff Bridges stars as Ted Cole, a philandering, alcoholic children's book writer who shares a beachfront Long Island home with his young daughter, Ruth (Elle Fanning), and wife, Marion (Kim Basinger), though the spouses no longer sleep there on the same nights; they take turns staying with Ruth. Things are only complicated when a gangly high school student, Eddie (Jon Foster), comes to assist Ted on his new book.
As Door unfolds, it gets intriguing: Marion and Eddie begin an affair, Ted's underlying misogyny reaches deadly proportions and the Cole marriage further crumbles into nothing as we slowly learn of a violent tragedy that scarred the family.
A few of the melodramatic subplots in the movie would seem ridiculous had writer/director Tod Williams not taken the time to faithfully carry over the moving thematic side of John Irving's source novel, A Widow for One Year. Luckily, it is intact here, and Williams' restrained direction surges deeper every moment down a road of past tragedy that opens to a sad, uncertain future.
As a fan of the book, I admired Williams' dedication to the quirky tale, but wish it hadn't been tarnished by the performances of Foster and Basinger. Foster's Eddie is a relentlessly deadpan Norman Bates-esque presence who feels more like a plot contrivance than a character.
After some graphic sexual encounters in the beginning of the film, Basinger just stares and looks morose. Luckily, even these weak points are offset by the sloppy aplomb that Bridges so perfectly inhabits. Ted Cole is a jerk, but a loveable one.
Though The Door in the Floor is worthwhile, particularly its intense climax, a nearly two-hour running time still isn't enough to truly get these characters. The plot is there, the movie works, but there is still a vague feeling of incompleteness as the film's ironic final shot cuts to black.
I don't care. With all of its flaws, Door is effective and well-produced, boasting haunting cinematography and a score by Marcelo Zarvos that is among the year's finest. Plus, this movie has a point. With so many films out there with little or nothing to say, The Door in the Floor speaks volumes on how the past has a death grip on our futures, and how skeletons in one's closet have a way of coming out.
'The Door In The Floor'
Director: Tod Williams
Running time: 111 minutes
Rated: R for strong sexuality, graphic images and language 3 1/2 On a scale of 5
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Matt Burns
