Door In The Floor

Year: 2004

Grade: B

Country: USA

Director: Williams

Review

sort of a cross between “the graduate” and “spanking the monkey.” it’s able to combine drama and comedy pretty well and the story revolves around a high school aged boy who has the hots for kim basinger. i think that the funny moments were more funny than the poignant moments were poignant, but both worked pretty well. the boy is played by jon foster, whom i’ve never heard of. despite being relatively new he’s the star of the film and probably does an even better job than jeff bridges and kim basinger. the young daughter, played by one of the precocious fanning sisters (yes there’s another one), is also good. a sexual coming-of-age film like this can have the tendency to peter out about half-way through the film. door in the floor, though, is able to keep moving forward by making subtle changes to the characters and their interactions. a small change in a character or two can change the dynamic of their relationship which then changes other relationships within the film. sometimes films stagnate and aren’t able to find ways to change the character interactions in a believable and interesting way; this film doesn’t have that problem. it’s got two (at least former) A-list actors so it’s somewhat surprising to see this playing in independent cinemas. i’m glad it is though because it may provide some welcome box office funds for smaller theaters. a worthwhile film.

Watched in theater