THE ODD SERENDIPITY OF BLOGGING: While Adam was off listening to peppy songs about a boy wanting to have sex with a much older woman, I spent the evening seeing The Door in the Floor, an ultimately depressing movie about a boy actually having sex with a much older woman. This is the fifth film to make it to our screens based on the novels of John Irving, and proves a truth--that in order for movies based on Irving's books to really work, the books have to dramatically abridged and simplified--this time, director/screenwriter Tod Williams chose to adapt only the first third of Irving's "A Widow For One Year" and winds up with one the few Irving adaptations that balances the tragedy and comedy that are found in Irving's books.
There's not much of a plot. 10 years ago, Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges), a successful children's book writer, and Marion Cole (Kim Basinger) lost their two sons in a tragic accident, the nature of which is not made clear to the audience till the very end. In an effort to "replace" their sons, they had a daughter--Ruth (Elle Fanning, Dakota's little sister, and a dead ringer for her sister). Now, four years later, as their marriage is falling apart, Ted hires a new assistant for the summer (relative unknown Jon Foster). Slowly, the marriage unravels as Ted and Marion both unravel. It's hard to explain because not much happens--it's a character study. Fine performances all around--Bridges delivers a fantastic performance, with a long monologue at the end, revealing the truth about the accident that made me teary-eyed, and Basinger proves that she actually DID deserve that Oscar she won a few years ago.
I wasn't that fond of "Widow For One Year" when I read it, but by compressing the action and telling only a part of Irving's perhaps overly sprawling story, Williams has created something touching and fascinating--recommended.
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