The Door in the Floor

Plot

A writer's young assistant becomes both pawn and catalyst in his boss's disintegrating household.

Release Year: 2004

Rating: 6.7/10 (9,764 voted)

Critic's Score: 67/100

Director:
Tod Williams

Stars: Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Jon Foster

Storyline
Alternately tragic and comic, an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest corners. Adapted from John Irving's best-selling novel A Widow for One Year, the film is set in the privileged beach community of East Hampton, New York and chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children's book author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger). Their once-great marriage has been strained by tragedy. Her resulting despondency and his subsequent infidelities have prevented the couple from confronting a much-needed change in their relationship. Eddie O'Hare, the young man Ted hires to work as his summer assistant, is the couple's unwitting yet willing pawn – and, ultimately, the catalyst in the transformation of their lives.

Writers: John Irving, Tod Williams

Cast:

Elle Fanning
–

Ruth Cole

Jeff Bridges
–

Ted Cole

Kim Basinger
–

Marion Cole

Jon Foster
–

Eddie O'Hare

Larry Pine
–

Interviewer

John Rothman
–

Minty O'Hare

Harvey Loomis
–

Dr. Loomis

Bijou Phillips
–

Alice

Mimi Rogers
–

Evelyn Vaughn

Mike S. Ryan
–

Reception Fan

Libby Langdon
–

Woman at Reception

Louis Arcella
–

Eduardo Gomez

Robert LuPone
–

Mendelssohn

Rachel Style
–

Bookstore Assistant

Amanda Posner
–

Frame Shop Clerk

Taglines:
The most dangerous secrets are the ones we're afraid to tell ourselves.

Details

Official Website:
Focus Features [United States] |

Release Date: 17 September 2004

Filming Locations: Bridgehampton, Long Island, New York, USA

Opening Weekend: $456,876
(USA)
(18 July 2004)
(47 Screens)

Gross: $3,835,551
(USA)
(10 October 2004)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

The deceased Cole boys, Thomas and Timothy, were played by director/screenwriter Tod Williams's cousins Tod Harrison Williams and Carter Williams, and the photographs featured in the film are their actual childhood photos.

Goofs:

Continuity:
When Eddie takes his luggage out of the car, he only gets a couple of items. He holds them in his right hand, immediately closes the trunk with his left hand. The large bag ends up on the ground, even though it never was removed.

Quotes:

Eddie O'Hare:
I want to know more about you.

Marion Cole:
You already know too much already.

User Review

This is NOT The Cat In The Hat

Rating: 10/10

As a huge follower of Jeff Bridges' work, I am here to tell you that if
you're a fan too, you must jettison yourself out of your chair forthwith and
propel yourself immediately to a theatre where this magnificent film is
showing.

The Door In The Floor gives Bridges a chance to create a character truly
worthy of his subtle (and generally overlooked) brilliance; his organic,
from-the-inside-out approach makes what he does seem so effortless, so
thoroughly not-like-acting that he's generally hardly given his due, and if
he doesn't garner some serious recognition for what he brings to the table
here, there's quite simply no hope for the world.

This is a film of deep, devastating power – a film where you, as an audience
member, actually share space with the two main characters, Ted and Marion
Cole (Bridges, of course, and an equally-brilliant Kim Bassinger, who once
again reminds us why she won an Oscar a few years back). We inhabit their
crumbled world, from the inside, not just as observers. By the end, we feel
as if we have gone through their tragedy with them, and when I left the
theatre, I felt as if my life had been changed by sharing with them what I
just shared – as if time itself had stopped and left me suspended in there,
with them.