The Door In The Floor (DVD)

I had never heard of the film 'The Door in the Floor' until I read a review about it on Dooyoo a few weeks ago. I probably would not have thought much more about it if the reviewer had nor referred to the fact that it was based on a John Irving novel - 'A Widow for one Year'. I had read this book a few years ago and remember enjoying it although could not remember that much about it. Anyway, I thought I would seek it out and discovered it on play.com ...
...that when I started watching the film that the story would come flooding back to me but strangely enough it didn't. I later discovered by watching a feature of John Irving talking about the film that it only focuses on the first part of the novel, which probably explains why I did not recognise it that much. I am therefore in no position to say how true it is to the novel, but in John Irving's commentary, he is very happy with it.

The ... more

I had never heard of the film 'The Door in the Floor' until I read a review about it on Dooyoo a few weeks ago. I probably would not have thought much more about it if the reviewer had nor referred to the fact that it was based on a John Irving novel - 'A Widow for one Year'. I had read this book a few years ago and remember enjoying it although could not remember that much about it. Anyway, I thought I would seek it out and discovered it on play.com for the nominal price of only £3.99 so I went ahead and ordered it.

I thought that when I started watching the film that the story would come flooding back to me but strangely enough it didn't. I later discovered by watching a feature of John Irving talking about the film that it only focuses on the first part of the novel, which probably explains why I did not recognise it that much. I am therefore in no position to say how true it is to the novel, but in John Irving's commentary, he is very happy with it.

The film is about a married couple - Ted and Marian Cole. He is a successful children's author and they live in a luxurious beach house in East Hampton in the US. It's obvious right from the start that along with their young daughter Ruth they are a dysfunctional family. Marian comes across as incredibly sad and fragile and they don't seem to be able to talk to each other. Their house is a bit like a shrine full of photographs of their two sons who, it is revealed very early in the film, are both dead although the viewer does not know why or how they died.

During the summer that the film takes place, two things happen. Firstly the couple agree to a trial separation, taking turns to be in the house with their daughter - and also Ted decides to take on a young assistant, Eddie. It is Eddie's arrival that acts as a catalyst causing both Ted and Marian to start behaving quite differently and eventually helps Marian to reach a major decision about her life. I will say no more about the plot so as not to spoil it, but it definitely is an intriguing storyline from start to finish.

I find it very difficult to decide whether I liked this film or not. It is incredibly moving and poignant and also, as I have already mentioned, intriguing. It has a gentle pace which certainly would not do for some, but if you keep with it, you will almost definitely become completely caught up in the story before the end.

I think, one of the reasons that I didn't think that I was enjoying the film is because I found the two main characters very difficult to like - especially at the beginning. There are incredible performances from both Jeff Bridges as Ted and Kim Basinger as Marian but both characters do not exactly exude warmth. Ted is cold and manipulative and treats all women very badly whereas Marian is just very sad and almost at times removed from reality. As a consequence, neither treat their small daughter Ruth (Elle Fanning, who at aged only eleven has had an amazing career!) as well as they should. It is only towards the end of the film, when the past has started to unravel, that I could feel much for either character. That does not take away from the performance of either actor, and towards the end, Jeff Bridges is amazing as he talks about what happened to the sons. Eddie (john Foster) is also a strange character in as much as you don't really get to know him. You do feel for the character though as he finds himself caught up in this strange household, although he does also discover that there are some unexpected benefits!

I was intrigued by the title of the film. I thought that 'The Door in the Floor sounded like it ought to be a Doctor Seuss type of children's book. I was not far wrong as it actually refers to the title of Ted Cole's most successful book to date - one that he reads in the film and it looks to be almost as dark and sinister as he is.

I guess that overall you would have to describe this as a sad film that demonstrates just how tragic ordinary lives can become over night. There were some moments of lighter humour but not too many. I did find it more and more riveting as I watched it, and I did enjoy it, although that's not quite the right word for this type of film. Having said that though, it is probably not a film that I will choose to watch again even though I would probably recommend watching it once.

There are a few DVD extras to watch as well. I don't usually bother with these but I did want to see what the author John Irving had to say about the film as I had read the book. This I found fascinating and it helped me to make a lot of sense of what I had seen.

There is also the Anatomy of a scene' where many different people who were involved with making the film dissect how it was put together. This was also quite interesting viewing too.

The film has a running time of 111 minutes and is rated 15. This is due to some sexual scenes and strong language.

The DVD is available on play.com for £3,99.  

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