The Door in the Floor

Based on the first part of John Irving’s novel A Widow for One Year, The Door In The Floor is the darkly comic psychological story of a wounded marriage between children’s author Ted Cole (Bridges) and his wife, Marion (Basinger), following the death of their two sons in a car crash.

Too afraid, or perhaps too cruel, to fight it out in the open, they play a dangerous game of psychological chicken. It’s all the more hurtful an affair because they both know what makes each other tick and hence which buttons to push. When Ted proposes to hire student Eddie (Foster) as a summer assistant, Marion starts to develop feelings for the young lad. This attraction soon leads to adultery, further fuelling the matrimonial imbalance between Ted and Marion.

There are great performances from the cast. Bridges is in fine comic form with his hazy balance between openness and a hidden agenda giving his drunken, sadistic and womanising character an immense depth. Basinger is well-chosen as the target of this emotional duel and is stellar as the vulnerable Marion; her features conveying the melancholic look of a woman driven to despair with ease. Jon Foster plays student Eddie with great innocence and comic ability, whilst even the five-year-old Elle Fanning gives a remarkable performance as Ted and Marion’s daughter Ruth, and looks as if she’s going to be as frighteningly accomplished as her sister Dakota.

Alex Coe