Directed by: Tod Williams
Adapted by: Tod Williams
(From the John Irving novel A Widow for One Year)
Starring: Jeff Bridges (Ted Cole), Kim Basinger ( Marion Cole), Jon Foster (Eddie O'Hare), Mimi Rogers (Eleanor Vaughn), Elle Fanning (Ruth Cole), Bijou Phillips (Alice), Louis Arcella (Eduardo Gomez)
Rated R for adult situations, nudity, and sex. Distributed by Universal Pictures.
IN the opening scene, we see Ruth Cole standing on a chair she’s pulled into the hallway, staring at a photo of two boys who would be just her age or older. She’s having an animated conversation with them, as if they are playing. The camera then walks us down the long hall, showing us a consecutive line of framed black and white photos of the boys as they progress in age. We understand as we continue to be introduced and re-introduced to these boys, why little Ruth camped in front of the photo she did. Because she identified most with them at this age, their small features– feet and hands, unscarred bodies, and their child-smiles that go from ear to ear – they haven’t lived long enough to know anything of unhappiness.
Most importantly, we realize that this is not just a normal montage of pictures mothers and fathers hang on walls. This is a shrine commemorating life that’s been torn from them prematurely. But who are we kidding? Shrines are never for the dead. And it is upon this realization that Tod Williams begins The Door in the Floor.
Tragedy is an element of most any film created, even romantic comedies (Return to Me, for example). It not only helps build intrigue but it allows characters the vehicle to change, define themself. In this dramatic tale, however, tragedy is employed to show a reversal of fortune and how Ted and Marion Cole (Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger) unravel, in many respects. After the tragedy that takes their sons, Marion slides into a depression that consumes her – she is an emotionless shell. And Ted has slid into not so secret adulterous affairs as if to get back at Marion for becoming numb and passionless, not realizing that he himself has not been the paramour of affection and warmth toward her. For him, life has become an ultimate game. Everything is a game, even his relationships.
The plot becomes highly intriguing when a 16-year-old prep-school student, Eddie O’Hare (Jon Foster), comes to live and work for Ted during summer break. ( Ted hired him because he uncannily resembles one of their sons.) The effect of this decision I will not reveal, only to say that it empowers and awakens Marion and ultimately humbles Ted.
Williams’ drama The Door In the Floor is beautifully filmed. It was recognized by the National Board of Review with an Excellence in Filmmaking award.
And the acting by Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger is stellar.
Bridges developed this persona that demanded attention, even if he was not the focus or hung out in the background.
Basinger’s role was much more difficult than Bridges'. She was relegated to a more one-sided role and many viewers may have thought she appeared one-dimensional portraying the depressed wife and mother. But I want to clarify that I think she developed her character near-perfectly, especially in light of what she experienced watching her sons die, and then what she saw of her dead son's body. This alone may have shut down any mother in the insightful way Basinger portrayed it.
In all, I thought she was extraordinary more than anything in the way she would let some of the emotion surface. For example, I will not easily forget the image of her crying as she is making love to Eddie. It spoke volumes about her pain and longing to be loved.
The only low point of the script, in my opinion, was when Evelyn went after Ted for spurning her. The way this was scripted and filmed did come across as unrealistic, contrived slap-stick.
Williams' The Door In the Floor is a noteworthy film, memorable and meaningful. There is a scene in which Ted is giving a reading of his children’s book "The Door in the Floor." In this unsettling story, the mother begs her only son never to open the door in the floor. (It’s nearly a daily mantra.) Because legend has it that all the children that have opened the door disappear. It’s a wonderfully symbolic tale any parent understands. We’d love to shelter our sons and daughters from the effects of the world. And we’d hate to live with the knowledge that they have been taken from us too soon.
Other recognitions for The Door In The Floor:
2004 - Nominee - Independent Spirit Award Best Screenplay Tod Williams
2004 - Winner - Boston Society of Film Critics Best Actress [Runner-up] Kim Basinger
2004 - Nominee - Independent Spirit Award Best Actor Jeff Bridges
While preparing my review for the film, I came across the magnificent poem "The Novel According to John Irving" by Didi Menendez that tied in very well with my theme of tragedy. And she has Irving’s use of tragedy penned to the "t," even at its most harsh and controversial.
Note: Reader be forewarned, some of the images in the poem are graphic.
Didi is the publisher of the poetry magazine Mipoesias and is a recognized artist who paints authors and poets. It is a privilege to introduce you to one of her poems:
"The Novel According To John Irving"
So that our protagonist may find humility in himself
or in others, there must always be a severed body part.
Whether it be a hand snarled by a tiger,
a son's leg ripped off by a snowplow,
a wife's lover's penis chopped off by her own mouth,
a lesbian's tongue cut off by her own hand,
or a first born left eye gutted out by a stick shift.
And why must we be afraid of the stick shift
when it is there simply to drive us to an accident?
Let us wrestle with this idea for a moment
while the neighbor’s saliva slurping sloppy
dumb dog brings us a bone we buried a long time ago.
Did you know his mother conceived out of wedlock
so her son may become Jesus?
Bundled joys will surely return in caskets,
the rim of burned sunglasses framing
a perfectly melted face.
Let us replace the sons with a daughter.
Let us watch her as she turns into his mother.
Wait! There are bears locked away in a zoo.
Let us set them free!
Unable to out-run them,
they ravage their saviour.
Just like the marriage we could not save.
(c) Didi Menendez 2005. Reprinted with Author’s permission.
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