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The Door in the Floor (2004)
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Reviews Counted:37
Fresh:21
Rotten:16
Average Rating:6.1/10
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.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexuality and graphic images, and language
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jul 14, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $3,634,359
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
A fundamentally depressing piece of work -- not because it deals with tragic events and memories but because the characters seem hapless and even stupid, and the writer-director can't, or won't, take control.
Not one enigmatic person in The Door in the Floor asks to be liked, but you like them anyway.
I can't say I minded the movie too much, but I can't say it ever grabbed me, which is how I feel about every other movie adapted from an Irving novel.
If The Door in the Floor is good enough for Irving, who's often distanced himself from films based on his books, it's certainly good enough for the rest of us.
The movie appears to be made for an audience whose highest aspiration is to be WASPs -- and it feels long enough to produce enough generations of them to fill an Andover reunion.
Irving writes about the consequences of the choices we make with endless and honest empathy for the flawed and damaged, and Williams does that too, allowing us to feel deeply for Ted, Marion and the future of Ruth.
We're asked to care about a self-absorbed children's author, his depressive, self-absorbed wife and their self-absorbed 16-year-old assistant.
Feels more about a situation than actual people. It's sensitively rendered, filled with those necessary evocative details, and it never rings true.
It's easily the most robust and compelling movie ever spun off from Irving's work.
A carefully conceived, thoughtfully orchestrated effort in taste and restraint that ultimately is too restrained and tasteful.
An American tragedy, exquisitely shot in the muted tones of the New England painter's scenes of desolation and disappointment.
[Bridges] bursts through The Door in the Floor like it was made of plywood and, in the process, delivers the year's first full-bodied dramatic performance.
Showcasing three individuals whose spiritual and physical journeys are both repellent and mundane, the film is just a long and pointless slog.
Extraordinary in every way, from the pitch-perfect performances to the delicate handling of explosive subject matter, The Door in the Floor is also a model of page-to-screen adaptation.
The transformation of what Irving wrote to what Williams filmed is a classic case of diminishment by movie convention.
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. ![]()
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