SnoopyStyle
Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) is a famous writer but his marriage to Marion (Kim Basinger) is in major difficulties after suffering a tragedy. They live in a northeast beach community with their daughter Ruth (Elle Fanning). Alice (Bijou Phillips) is the nanny. Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster) arrives to be an intern for Ted and quickly has an affair out in the open with Marion. Ted has his own affair with his sketch model Evelyn Vaughn (Mimi Rogers).This is a family quietly suffering. I guess that's the point of the movie. It's like sharing in their unresolved issues. I don't really connect with any of the characters. Everything is muted. The emotions are bubbling under the surface most of the time. I appreciate this movie for what it is but there isn't much enjoyment in it.
wes-connors
After a tragic accident took the life of their two teen-aged sons, children's book author Jeff Bridges (as Theodore "Ted" Cole) and his still beautiful wife Kim Basinger (as Marion) moved to wealthy East Hampton, Long Island. Presently, their marriage is falling apart. He invites women over to model and orders them to strip for sexually suggestive illustrations. She mournfully keeps pictures of dead sons Thomas and Timothy around the house and takes lonely walks on the beach. To help around the house and fill a void left by his deceased sons, Mr. Bridges hires a good-looking young man to spend the summer as his assistant. After being driven home by pretty-in-pink Ms. Basinger, young hire Jon Foster (as Edward "Eddie" O'Hare) is invited to shower with Bridges...You know either Bridges or Basinger will be having sex with Mr. Foster before very long. When Foster fails to pick up on sexy sitter Bijou Phillips (as Alice) saying, "not my type," you're wagering on Bridges. But when Foster gets chummy with Basinger's bra and panties, all bets are off. The older woman, younger man duo start doing it all over the house. Neither he nor she desires privacy, so Bridges and model-perfect preteen daughter Elle Fanning (as Ruth) find out. A part-time nudist, Bridges only regrets that his little girl had to see it "doggie style." After a flashback, it all leads to "The Door in the Floor". Although they don't try to be, the situation and characters are most uninteresting. You probably have to read the book to understand it completely.***** The Door in the Floor (6/18/04) Tod Williams ~ Jeff Bridges, Jon Foster, Kim Basinger, Mimi Rogers
evening1
This movie got off to a promising start in its depiction of Jeff Bridges's self-centered Ted, a womanizer who never gives much thought to his serial manipulations. However, "The Door" quickly deteriorates into a ripoff of "The Summer of '42" and the real-life Mary Kay Letourneau story as Ted's depressed wife Marion (Kim Basinger) is set up to seduce the horny high-school student Ted has brought into the home for the summer. As pretty as Basinger is, I didn't believe for a minute that Eddie would fall for her instead of the family's sexy young nanny or all the nubile young girls we're shown on the Hamptons beach. The movie made me cringe when we witness Eddie's attempts at masturbation, and I finally deleted the film once Marion walked in and he was too ashamed to face her. I may be biased but I don't think people go to the movies to squirm through this kind of trash. Admittedly I am the parent of a teenager and a pre-teen, but I found the intrusiveness of these scenes to be highly distasteful. If kids are going to explore their own bodies, please directors of the world, let them do so in privacy and dignity! I also found it offensive to have little Ruth, who looks to be about 4, tell her father, "your penis looks funny." I guess we're supposed to assume she saw Ted's erection -- another violation of a child's boundaries. This actress is a tiny little girl. Why was it necessary to give her this dialog? Call me a prude if you like but I found this movie to be so disrespectful to children that I lost interest in any surrounding storyline involving the presumptive grown-ups in the tale.I'm surprised that Jeff Bridges, an actor I've always respected, would allow himself to appear in garbage like this.
gotofritz
The Door In The Floor was beautifully shot and edited, and put together with high production values - although someone spotted the boom mic in a few shots. The locations are used very well, you get a good feeling of the space. The soundtrack was awful, your usual orchestral Hollywood tripe.The acting was variable - Jeff Bridges's performance excellent, Basinger doesn't have much to do except staring blankly out to sea, and Foster woody and unconvincing. There isn't much character development, and the director gives no idea of the passing of time. Moodwise, it is a mixture of tragic and slapstick, which actually seems to work quite well - possibly down to Bridges.All in all, just about watchable if a bit miserable. Probably saved by Bridges.
AD
