The Door in the Floor DVD Review:

Based on the novel A Widow for One Year by Academy Award winner John Irving, The Door in the Floor seemed as though it would be similar to many
films before it. With the element of parents dealing with the loss of children it seemed somewhat like Moonlight Mile or In the Bedroom, and with the infidelity element it seemed likely it would end up like Unfaithful or any of the other dozens of films dealing with similar situations. Somehow The Door in the Floor manages to come out unique though, whether it works well or not.

Door in the Floor fuses comedy with drama, which works at times, but often it feels as if uncertain whether it wants to make you laugh more than cry.
Much of this may have to do with the fact that Door in the Floor focuses on the characters entirely while a more successful John Irving adaptation, The
World According to Garp, has fully developed characters allowed to enter many extreme situations. In this the comedy seems to flow within the drama, making the film flow much easier. While Door in the Floor may not make its mark in film history, it should make a mark in the history of each actor involved, each giving performances worthy of praise.

Jeff Bridges plays a broken man, but manages to never overplay the cliché of the character. He has lost two sons and yet still manages to raise his
daughter, an attempt to escape the tragedy, with love and tenderness separate from every other element of the character. Kim Basinger brings a
tender and yet stone-cold sad sexuality to the mourning mother, desperate for something never quite seen. There is a quiet mystery within Basinger’s character that is indescribable. Add in the young character in opposition of Bridge’s character, played by Jon Foster, and the young daughter played by Elle Fanning, and the cast full of incredible talent.

Jon Foster’s character, Eddie comes into the broken family of Ted and Marion Cole with the intentions of learning something from Ted, an author of children’s books, which seem to have more insight than your average toddler could ever understand. What Eddie soon becomes is a driver for Ted and a lover for Marion.

Although the film quickly becomes highly sexual as Ted draws a nude model in preparation for his next children’s novel and Marion becomes sexually
involved with Eddie, the film always remains somewhere far from erotic. It has a sad quality that draws you in with the help of perhaps one of the most haunting scores this year. The music is composed by Marcelo Zarvos and is so extremely simple and elegant while remaining sad and beautiful that it quickly increases my appreciation for every line spoken and every look given by the already talented actors.

Only the first third of the book was adapted for the film, allowing for a very concise picture of grief and sadness, as well as the destruction it causes, especially in the life of young daughter Ruth. Marion is so torn apart that she won’t even allow herself to love the daughter right in front of her, and Ted is determined to use this fact to win custody should they split for good.

The DVD is well put together with a simple menu and a few special features. Although there are only a few special features, they are what I believe
should be standard special features for any decent DVD. The featurettes, including Frame on the Wall: The Making of The Door in the Floor, Novel to the Screen, and Anatomy of a Scene. The making of featurette is a twenty-minute summary of what Tod Williams went through to adapt the film, while Novel to Screen is a commentary from the book’s author John Irving. Both of these featurettes give great insight into the characters and the story, allowing any regular viewer to be drawn in further. The Anatomy of a Scene, done by the Sundance Channel is of one of the most humorous scenes in
the film, if not slightly out of place from the rest of the film. There is also a commentary track with Tod Williams and other key technical voices
from the film.

Although I did enjoy the film, I would say that in many ways the DVD exceeds the film itself, with great care having been put into the special
features as it seems was also put in the film with slightly less successful results.

Ryan Izay

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