Ralph's Movie Reviews: THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR

Friday, July 23, 2004

THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Jeff Bridges:Ted Cole, best selling rich author of children’s books and artist
Kim Basinger: Marion, his wife
Elle Fanning: Ruth, their 4-year-old daughter
Jon Foster: Eddie O'Hara, 17-year-old student and aspiring writer
Mimi Rogers: Evelyn Vaughn, a model

REVIEW
Summer is a special time: lots of things happen during these all too brief months of the year. Set in Easthampton, we see how one family copes with their problems and the impact it has on others.

There are several scenes that might be offensive to some. Although the subject matter is a serious one, there are more than a few chuckles. The acting is very believable throughout.

CLASSIFICATION

for strong sexuality (frontal nudity, self-gratification, two people making out) as well as graphic images (explicit drawings) and language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
When Ruth is in bed with her teddy bear its face is turned to one side; when she sits up to listen to the bedtime story she doesn’t touch it but the teddy bear is now facing head on.

While Ruth and Eddie are having lunch together the Heinz label on the ketchup bottle is facing us but after a close-up of Eddie the bottle has turned around by itself and the label is hidden.

While in the framing shop Ruth’s hair is somewhat unruly on the right hand side; after Eddie speaks to the clerk we see that Ruth's hair is now in place.

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.