One of the most annoying aspects of cinema is when a consistently wonderful actor is stuck in a film that isn't worthy of his talents. It is downright infuriating when that actor delivers a spectacular performance that, despite its brilliance, is ultimately unable to save the film.
Unfortunately, Jeff Bridges' new film \The Door in the Floor"" is another exasperating example of this; his solid performance is the only virtue of this overcooked, ostentatious muddle. The film, which recently opened at Hilldale Theatre, is based upon the first third of John Irving's lengthy recent novel, ""A Widow for One Year."" Full of trademark Irving dysfunction and overly symbolic pathos, the film concerns the exploits of three oversexed individuals: a successful author and illustrator of children's books named Ted (Bridges), his eternally depressed wife Marion (Kim Basinger) and Eddie (Jon Foster), an eager young writer whom Ted takes under his wing.
Just before Eddie comes to live with them, Ted and Marion mutually agree to a separation due to, presumably, Ted's frequent philandering and Marion's current detached state of shellshock. Their lives are in shambles because their teenage sons were killed in a snowy car crash, and when impressionable (and horny) 16-year-old Eddie enters their lives, the results are predictably unpredictable. What follows is a melodrama of sexual transgression and loss of innocence, which is more often sordid and unconvincing than compelling.
Writer-director Tod Williams' sophomore feature (his first was the semi-popular indie ""The Adventures of Sebastian Cole"") is rife with ambitious symbolism and dramatic ambiguity, but comes across as meandering and extremely uneven.
Williams attempts to replicate Irving's distinctive brand of intertwining insightful drama and absurd comedy, but the results are spotty at best. Whereas a scene in which Eddie is caught masturbating to Marion's clothes by Marion herself is embarrassing and hilarious, most other tries are infinitely less successful. For example, Mimi Rogers (in a totally thankless role) plays a jilted lover of Ted's who freaks out at one point and chases him around with a knife in a scene that plays as bizarre and pointless rather than quirky and funny. ""The Door in the Floor"" is fundamentally flawed in its character structure and relationships as well.
Since we are not given more than a handful of scenes with Bridges and Basinger together, it is hard to care about or ponder the meaning of the subsequent events involving her affair with the kid, which feel unrealistic and manufactured. Indeed, the whole affair between Eddie and Marion feels like an artificial and contrived way to bring out Irving's provocative themes of incest (which are undeveloped and murky). Williams is also under the mistaken impression that presenting imagery with the subtlety of a sledgehammer (such as the ending) will solve the narrative problems. Yet Jeff Bridges is able to steer through the maze of narrative pretension that envelops this movie to deliver a fantastic performance. Every scene he is in nearly transcends the hokey, heavy-handed script (a scene in which he confronts Foster about the affair exhibits a quiet, surprising dignity).
Bridges skillfully creates a character that appears to be generally decent at first glance, but seethes with understated condescension. As far as John Irving adaptations go, this one is slightly better than the deplorable ""Simon Birch"" but is somewhat worse than the overrated, saccharine ""Cider House Rules"". Jeff Bridges is the only one that will benefit from this film in the long run; his performance will be remembered long after this veritable soap opera has been forgotten.
