THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR

by Bill Henry on Jul.14, 2004, under Bill Henry's Movie Reviews

BILL’S REVIEW: The Door in the Floor 1/2

One could hardly ask for a better convergence of great acting, storytelling, character, and direction than Tod Williams’ The Door in the Floor. Adapted from the first third of John Irving’s dynamic and engrossing novel A Widow for One Year, the movie is so effortlessly superb that you wonder why so few movies these days reach these heights.

The original setting of 1958 Long Island has been moved to the present where an Exeter student named Eddie O’Hare (Jon Foster, brother of Ben) has taken a summer job at the Hamptons home of acclaimed children’s book writer and illustrator Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges, son of Lloyd, brother of Beau). Little does Eddie know that he has actually come upon Ted at a time when he is on his way to becoming a guy who used to write and illustrate children’s books just as he is about to become the guy who used to be married to Marion Cole (Kim Basinger, former wife of Alec Baldwin). His new writer’s assistant will free Ted up so that he can spend more time attending to his real passions: drinking and debauching lonely housewives. He is currently attending to one Mrs. Evelyn Vaughn (Mimi Rogers, former spouse of Tom Cruise) and so Eddie will also be attending to Marion as well as being a parent and surrogate older brother to the Cole’s surviving child Ruthie (Elle Fanning, younger sister and carbon copy of Dakota).

And that need for a big brother explains Eddie’s addition to this unhappy household. Although the Exeter yearbook is probably filled with blandly handsome candidates, Eddie has a vague resemblance to Ted and Marion two sons, former Exonians who died in a car accident. In addition to finding herself superfluous to her marriage, Marion is finding it increasingly impossible to be a mother to the child she never wanted (an attempt by Ted at a replacement child and as great a success as his career writing novels for adults). Even nanny Alice (Bijou Phillips, daughter of John, stepsister of Mackenzie and Chynna) is no help. The affair between Marion and Eddie is the answer to his prayers and a reinforcement of attraction to her as well as a way of touching her beloved sons albeit in a way that one should not consider too deeply.

Those unconvinced of Basinger’s abilities after her Oscar winning turn in L.A. Confidential (and with scant evidence to bolster it since) should have any such concerns put to rest by her work here. She is stupendous. Despite being nine years older than Irving’s description, she seems perfect in every way. Her Marion is devastatingly beautiful and still haunted by her traumatic loss unable to move forward in her old life. Her damaged being does not echo in uncharitable behavior towards others, but seems so weighty that it is trapped in her very person unable to escape or dissipate or heal. That Bridges is great should be no surprise, but what is that with this movie following on the heels of Seabiscuit, he is finally getting roles commensurate with his ability. Although softened from the book’s Ted, Bridges does not allow the audience to forget that behind the engaging manner and amiable grin, there lies a selfish jerkâ€”even a borderline sociopath who seduces, degrades, and rejects.

John Irving has stated that The Door in the Floor (the title is taken from one of Ted’s nightmare-ensuring children’s books) is the best and most faithful version of one of his books ever made and it is tough to argue with that. Certainly making the movie using only the mostly self-contained first act certainly seemed a smart strategy for working with Irving’s hefty (and rewarding) plot- and character-dense novels. After the 13-year debacle in getting The Cider House Rules to the big screen as detailed in his book My Movie Business: A Memoir (an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay hardly seems reward enough), this must have seemed a positive walk around the block for a man who is one of America’s greatest living writers.

Director Williams and cinematographer Terry Stacey (American Splendor) have also delivered a beautiful looking movie despite the obviously inappropriate Hamptons foliage betraying a shoot that probably did not take place during the book’s summer-set season. That these people who live in such opulence and yet are so miserable is an irony not unknown to Irving’s work.

Another recognizable Irving trademark that Williams fully exploits is the tendency to go for the belly laugh even when things are at their most horrificâ€”especially during the movie’s second half as Marion decides what to do. Williams is further to be congratulated for getting so much of Irving’s rich characterizations so spot on even in the supporting roles. Chief among these is Donna Murphy as the frame store owner where Eddie goes to rescue the one picture of her mother and dead brothers that Ruthie will get to sustain her to adulthood. The scene with Murphy (who will become the second of Eddie’s older lovers when he takes a summer job with her in the unfilmed future world of A Widow for One Year) is particularly emblematic of Williams’ new-found subtlety. His first movie The Adventures of Sebastian Cole certainly had some Irvingesque qualities to it, but this is such an advancement over that maiden effort as to seem the work of another filmmaker. Maybe it is the difference between having source material from John Irving as opposed to source material created by Tod Williams.