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Sometimes, life doesn’t go as planned, and sometimes, we have to find ways to deal with these events, which is the theme of the drama\/comedy\u00a0The Door In The Floor<\/em>\u00a0(2004). Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart<\/a>,\u00a0True Grit<\/a><\/em>) and Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile)<\/em> are at the top of their game as parents who have fallen out of love with each other following the deaths of their teenage sons. Tod Williams effectively adapts the first third of the John Irving novel “A Widow For One Year” in his directorial debut.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Set in the summer of 1958 in the Hamptons, children’s author Ted Cole (Bridges) decides to try a trial separation from his wife Marion (Basinger). Marion is trapped in a deep depression after she, Ted, and their two sons were involved in a tragic car accident some years earlier that killed both of their sons. Their attempts to rediscover life through daughter Ruth (Elle Fanning – Live by Night<\/a>, Reservation Road<\/a><\/em>), born a couple of years after the accident, prove futile. Though their love for their daughter is mutual, that is all they share. Writing is so easy for Ted that it proves not to be a challenge or an escape. Instead, Ted avoids the pain of his losses through drinking and womanizing.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, wife Marion struggles to even get out of bed on most days, though it has been roughly six years since the accident. Ted hires a 16-year-old summer intern named Eddie (Jon Foster –\u00a0Life As a House<\/em>) to serve as both an editor and his driver (Ted has lost his driver’s license due, presumably due to a DWI penalty). However, Eddie is not a typical intern, nor is he picked because of his credentials alone). He was selected primarily because of his photograph. Ted sees Eddie as a person who he thought Marion would like. Upon hiring, Ted informs Eddie that while working directly with Eddie, he will stay with Marion and Ruth.<\/p>\n A distraught Marion quickly discovers something in Eddie that she finds new and exciting. The two quickly form a friendship. Marion begins to smile again, and we see the person she might have once been. Perhaps it is because he is the current age that her sons were when they died. Maybe it is because Eddie looks like her oldest son. Perhaps she wants to imagine what the next phase of her son’s life might have looked like. Perhaps she just likes the way that Eddie looks at her. For whatever reason, after she finds Eddie masturbating to her bra and panties, she decides to seduce him, and the two begin a torrid love affair.<\/p>\n Eddie gets caught in the middle of the situation, almost serving as a pawn at times. But when Ted learns of the affair, he does not react as you might expect him to. Instead of acting like a jealous husband, he humanizes the situation. He is happy that his wife is living with purpose once again but also reminds Eddie that, if it came down to it, he would have to act truthfully in a court of law if he and Marion get into a custody dispute over Elle.<\/p>\n Bridges and Basinger are the two reasons to see this movie. They were both perfect choices to play the bickering couple. Basinger has never been better, and Bridges’ performance as Ted is just one more chapter in his deep catalog of well-chosen roles. I loved watching as the parents tried to cope with the situation differently. It shows that none of us knows how we will deal with unfathomable situations until they are forced upon us. And when dealing with them, we might act in familiar ways or entirely out of character. Over a certain period of being unable to cope, we realize that we must do whatever is necessary to live again.<\/p>\n What I didn’t like about the movie was that it didn’t know if it wanted to be a drama with little bits of humor or a comedy\/drama at the same time. When there were funny moments, we weren’t sure if it was appropriate to laugh because of the landscape and the tone already established. Still, we are in awe of Bridges’ performance, and thus, when he is comic, we will feel better about laughing. The development of the two main characters was pretty good, considering the enormity of the situation. While both Ted and Marion try to cope, they are never, nor will they ever be, “fixed.”<\/p>\n Plot 9\/10 Sometimes, life doesn’t go as planned, and sometimes, we have to find ways to deal with these events, which is the theme of the drama\/comedy\u00a0The Door In The Floor\u00a0(2004). Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart,\u00a0True Grit) and Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile) are at the top of their game as parents who have fallen out of … Continue reading The Door in the Floor (2004)<\/span>
\nCharacter Development 8.5\/10
\nCharacter Chemistry 8.5\/10
\nActing 10\/10
\nScreenplay 7.5\/10
\nDirecting 7.5\/10
\nCinematography 7.5\/10
\nSound 7.5\/10
\nHook and Reel 7\/10
\nUniversal Relevance 9.5\/10
\n82.5%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"