John Irving, the author behind The World According to Garp and Cider House Rules, is calling The Door in the Floor, the best movie adaptation of his work so far.
The Door in the Floor is the story of Ted and Marion Cole (Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger), a couple forced to go about their lives in the aftermath of the death their two sons suffered at the hands of a car crash, while struggling to keep their lives and marriage together raising their 4-year old daughter, Ruth.
Unfortunately life does not always go on as planned and Eddie O’Hare (Foster) may just be the one to throw a monkey wrench in the works once he is hired on as Ted’s assistant. Ted is a famous children’s author and his hopes of Eddie being the much needed ingredient in the Cole’s dwindling marriage and set off the spark that once existed between he and his wife.
Sparks do fly, as Eddie’s thoughts turn from his appreciation of Ted’s work, to his infatuation with Marion, and once his curiosity is reciprocated the two fall into a twisted love affair leaving the future of this fragile family in the balance.
Bridges is magnificent as his character continually gives Eddie, and the audience, clues into the writer’s process of “manipulating the audience” even as the plot is doing just that. “Death, pain, sadness, these are all tools used by the writer, like colors on a palette,” Bridges tells Foster in a clever scene, which is highly indicative of this volatile plotline which is living on the basis that, “in fiction nothing happens by accident.”
This couldn’t be more true, even after leaving the theatre, my mind kept going back over all of the clues that guided the story.
Loaded with symbolism layered throughout the story, into the characters and sets, The Door in the Floor is very well crafted, and forces you to pay attention. Granted, at times, the cleverness of the film may have gotten the best of itself as you are hit over the head with some details that should have been restrained, but it is easily forgivable.
The cast simply shines as they bring to life such a morbid story drenched in the visceral world of sex and alcohol, which, at the same time, manages to be beautiful, clever and, at times, very funny. The Door in the Floor is not only entertaining, it will have you leaving the theatre thinking, which… is a good thing!
