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Movies / On DVD / The Door in the Floor
The Door in the Floor

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The Door in the Floor (2004)

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Reviews Counted:138

Fresh:91

Rotten:47

Average Rating:6.4/10

Consensus: Though uneven in tone, this is one of the better adaptations of John Irving's novels, with Jeff Bridges giving one of his best performances.

Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: The Door in the Floor explores the complexities of love in its brightest, most mysterious, and darkest corners. The Door in the Floor is directed by Tod Williams, whose screenplay is adapted from... The Door in the Floor explores the complexities of love in its brightest, most mysterious, and darkest corners. The Door in the Floor is directed by Tod Williams, whose screenplay is adapted from John Irving's best-selling novel A Widow for One Year. Set in the beach community of East Hampton, New York, the film chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children's books author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger). Their once-great marriage has been strained by tragedy. The Coles lovingly parent their surviving child, bright 4-year-old Ruth (Elle Fanning), who takes everything in stride as perhaps only a child can. But Marion's equation of love with loss, coupled with Ted's infidelities, points towards a much-needed change in the relationship. That may come in the form of Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster), the young man Ted hires to work as his summer assistant - and, Ted hopes, the catalyst to invigorate the Coles' bond of marriage. Eddie idolizes Ted, but Ted's erratic work habits soon leave Eddie to his own devices. Marion becomes an object of desire for Eddie, rekindling in her some surprising emotions as a mother and as a woman. To Eddie's surprise and delight, his yearning is potently reciprocated. As he becomes passionately entwined with the seemingly fragile yet increasingly bold Marion, Eddie comes to realize that, similarly, Ted's surface fecklessness hides something deeper within. As the summer draws to a close, Marion and Ted must make difficult decisions about the future of their family. A Focus Features and Revere Pictures presentation of a This is that production. Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger. The Door in the Floor. Jon Foster, Mimi Rogers, Elle Fanning, with Bijou Phillips. Composer, Marcelo Zarvos. Costume Designer, Eric Daman. Editor, Affonso Gonçalves. Production Designer, Thérèse DePrez. Director of Photography, Terry Stacey. Co-Producer, Marisa Polvino. Executive Producer, Amy J. Kaufman. Executive Producer, Roger Marino. Produced by Michael Corrente. Produced by Ted Hope, Anne Carey. Based the novel A Widow for One Year by John Irving. Screenplay by Tod Williams. Directed by Tod Williams. -- © Focus Features [More]

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Mimi Rogers, Elle Fanning

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Mimi Rogers, Elle Fanning, Jon Foster, Bijou Phillips

Director: Tod Williams

Director: Tod Williams
Screenwriter: Tod Williams
Producer: Michael Corrente, Ted Hope, Anne Carey
Composer: Marcelo Zarvos
Studio: Focus Features

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Reviews for The Door in the Floor

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121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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As rich with comic moments as an Irving novel.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
07/14/04
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times

Williams handles the main line of the story, the war between Ted and Marion, clearly and strongly.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
07/14/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A stunningly well-acted drama for grown-ups.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
07/14/04
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

A jarring cinematic experience, suggesting both an unusual respect for the audience and a frustrating unwillingness on the part of the filmmaker to get his hands dirty.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
07/14/04
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

This is classic Jeff Bridges, an actor whom we should just retire the term 'underrated' to describe him and give the man his due as one of the finest actors in any medium.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/14/04
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Subtly captivating, fact-of-life moment(s) define (the film's) emotional timbre...

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
07/14/04
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Sleazy in that Irving incestuous fashion: highbrow and lowbrow--Cheever doing beaver.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
07/13/04
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Lines soaked with irony in the novel are played utterly straight-faced in the film—making Irving’s tale seem less imaginative (and considerably more pretentious) than it is.

Full Review Source: East Hampton Independent | comment Comment
07/13/04
Ben Kenigsberg
Ben Kenigsberg
East Hampton Independent

A strange, dark, complex, multi-layered and intricately constructed narrative examining how people deal with a devastating tragedy.

Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
07/13/04
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
Modamag.com

At times it plays like an affecting portrait of a marriage on life support intersecting with an earnest coming-of-age story, at times like a Lands' End catalog in which all the models have been instructed to squint at the middle distance.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
07/13/04
Ed Park
Ed Park
Village Voice

The Door in the Floor is one of the best films of the year with its mature treatment of loss, sexuality and the emotional education of a young man.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
07/13/04
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

For the most part, The Door in the Floor is well-made, and it held my attention throughout, but this is one of those motion pictures where it's easier to admire than like the final result.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
07/13/04
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Its curious combination of refined understatement and theatrical flamboyance proves oddly compelling.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
07/12/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

[I]t's so strong and the performance by Basinger and by Bridges and this young actor, there's such good work and there are some quiet moments of grief that really hit you ...

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
07/12/04
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper

It's a pleasure to watch Bridges and Basinger expose their characters' flaws and inner torment so powerfully.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/11/04
Diana Saenger
Diana Saenger
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Bridges, a consistently under-appreciated actor, does arguably the best work of his career...

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
07/10/04
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

This goes on for almost two hours and soon we’re bored to tears.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
07/10/04
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

Fascinating use of children as metaphor.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
07/10/04
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Jeff Bridges brilliantly juggles the comedic and tragic aspects of the material. Too bad the film as a whole is a mixed bag.

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
07/07/04
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

There are more than a couple of moments in this film ... that get Irving's sense of grotesque tragedy and tragic grotesquerie just right.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
07/03/04
Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny
Premiere Magazine
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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Latest News for The Door in the Floor

April 08, 2005: Frankie Muniz Aims to "Stay Alive"!
The Hollywood Reporter brings news of a rather drastic career switch for the young Frankie Muniz. Known throughout the universe as "Malcolm in the Middle" (or perhaps... More...

June 22, 2004: Not so easily cast was the role of Marion, a woman so traumatized by the death of her sons that she can’t properly mother her daughter. Opens in new window
More...

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