THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR Directed by Tod Williams
Certificate 15

John Irving’s novels often lead to quirky – but sometimes wonderful – movie adaptations, from The World According To Garp to The Cider House Rules. The Door In The Floor is no exception – a coming of age tale mixed with a moving tale of family grief and the breakdown of a marriage – it is based on the first part of Irving’s acclaimed book A Widow For One Year.
Aspiring young writer Eddie (Jon Foster) is hired by children’s author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) to be his assistant one summer at his seaside home in East Hampton.
The job, of course, is not what it seems. Ted doesn’t really need an assistant – he often just changes a comma or word in his first draft just to give Eddie something to do – and instead Eddie finds himself caught in the middle of Ted’s strained, hurtful relationship with his wife Marion (Kim Basinger).
Ted is unfaithful, Marion is lonely, and there is some unspoken, terrible pain between them involving the deaths of their two sons.
As Eddie acts as go-between, pawn, friend to their young daughter, he unwittingly becomes the catalyst to soul-searching events.
Beautifully, quietly directed by Williams, this is a sad, melancholy drama with moments of humour – Ted’s infidelity backfiring on him is a treat, while Eddie’s fascination with Marion leads to an embarrassing encounter with her undies – that benefits from three superb central performances.
Foster is just right as the young man who is part Benjamin from The Graduate, part detective, and part bemused storyteller, but it is Basinger and Bridges who transfix from the moment they first appear onscreen.
As she did in LA Confidential, Basinger delivers a haunting performance, showing sadness without having to utter a word, while Bridges hits the right balance between comedy and tragedy as the middle aged man wandering around his home in a shabby dressing gown, seducing local ladies in a bid to distract himself from the more painful aspects of his life.
Both he and Basinger make this sometimes almost unbearably sad movie worth a look, and perhaps the saddest thing of all is that neither of their names are on the Academy Award list of nominated actors for their terrific performances here.