Right at Your Door (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Theatrical Release: Aug 24, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: With a finely honed craft and skill that belie its budget, Right at Your Door is a remarkable debut for its director, Chris Gorak. It begins on a beautiful, sunny morning in Los Angeles, where Brad (Rory Cochrane) has just kissed his wife, Lexi (Mary McCormack), off to work and started his day... With a finely honed craft and skill that belie its budget, Right at Your Door is a remarkable debut for its director, Chris Gorak. It begins on a beautiful, sunny morning in Los Angeles, where Brad (Rory Cochrane) has just kissed his wife, Lexi (Mary McCormack), off to work and started his day when the radio reports the detonation of a bomb. Announcements of additional explosions and an ominous, possibly toxic, cloud blowing ash across the L.A. basin quickly follow. With roads immediately closed off and phone contact elusive, Brad makes the decision to seal himself into his home, accomplishing the task with the assistance of a neighbor's handyman, Alvaro (Tony Perez), while awaiting his wife's return until... Right at Your Door perfectly portrays the realities of this kind of attack–the isolation and fear, the panic, the frustration, and the media misinformation. When authority arrives, the anticipated help may, in fact, be anything but. Gorak and his collaborators demonstrate a restraint and attention to detail that multiply the effect of both the personal and public crises. This is ambitious and accomplished storytelling, wonderfully conceived and executed, that stands apart from similarly themed, multimillion-dollar extravaganzas that have nowhere near the tension, thoughtfulness, and impact of this very independent feature. --© Sundance Film Festival [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Mary McCormack, Rory Cochrane
Screenwriter: Chris Gorak
Producer: Palmer West, Jonah Smith
Composer: Tomandandy
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 29, 2008
DVD Features:
- Keep Case
- Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Subtitled - English, Spanish
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
As a story, it's about twice as long as it should be, but as a horror experience, it's just about right.
The agitated, theatrical dialogue reaches frenzied, jackhammer proportions even during the film's supposed quiet moments; it's thoroughly draining.
It will rattle your comfort zone and keep you unnerved throughout.
There's no levity at all to distract from the unrelenting horror, unless you consider the entire film to be a big sick joke
After the Katrina tragedy, the filmmaker's fears are both well-grounded and keenly realized.
Cunningly riffs on everything from George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and The Crazies to our current terrorist-related night-sweats.
McCormack and Cochrane can't transcend the cliched, meandering dialogue, so Brad and Lexi's dilemma never feels like anything but a didactic contrivance.
[Stars] Cochrane and McCormack have zero chemistry and their characters are so different that they never compute as a couple.
Right at Your Door instead, grows more and more incredible leading up to a twist ending worthy of an O. Henry short story that is as appropriate as it is ridiculous.
Crosses our real-life national nightmares with a cleverly constructed thriller to create a movie that is smart, impeccably acted, and extremely unsettling.
[Director] Gorak succeeds in raising larger issues about societal paranoia, and the dangers of being too obedient and trusting of the powers that be.
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by: celebslides 9/5/07


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