"I hope that Bridges will be remembered at Oscar time, but he probably won't be, and that will be further proof that he has given another typically first-rate Jeff Bridges performance." Gary Thompson PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS "While the film is a pleasure to behold, it is Jeff Bridges as successful author Ted Cole who is worth more than the price of a ticket." Doris Toumarkine FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL examination of the bedeviling and perversely inspiring legacy of family tragedy, it's one of the most sophisticated American films of the year." James Verniere, BOSTON HERALD "The richly rewarding film is funny, sexy, tragic, touching and sometimes kind of sweetly bizarre" Steve Rhodes STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS "Jeff Bridges offers perhaps the wittiest and richest piece of screen acting by an American man so far this year in the best movie yet made from John Irving's fiction." A O Scott NEW YORK TIMES

"Graced by bold performances, lyrical visuals and, most notably, Irving's own words, which have made the transition quite intact thanks to a faithful but still filmic adaptation by writer-director Tod Williams." Michael Rechtshaffen HOLLYWOOD REPORTER "A strange, dark, complex, multi-layered and intricately constructed narrative examining how people deal with a devastating tragedy." Susan Granger MODAMAG.COM "An alert, adult and intelligent film." David Elliott SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE "[Bridges] bursts through The Door in the Floor like it was made of plywood and, in the process, delivers the year's first full-bodied dramatic performance." Glenn Lovell SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS "Irving writes about the consequences of the choices we make with endless and honest empathy for the flawed and damaged, and Williams does that too, allowing us to feel deeply for Ted, Marion and the future of Ruth." Terry Lawson DETROIT FREE PRESS

The Inside Story

"If The Door in the Floor is good enough for Irving, who's often distanced himself from films based on his books, it's certainly good enough for the rest of us." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

Some cinemagoers may find Tod Williams film "The Door In The Floor" a little disturbing for there are some aspects of the film they may find a little 'confronting' with themes that are to say the least a little bemusing when it comes to moral standards the community sets for itself. That word confronting can often be misinterpreted as was the case when some sections of the film industry interpreted wrongly [ or drew a wrong inference], comments I made about the so-called 'art' flick "Irreversible". Never one to pull any punches I gave it a solid working over and fair enough too. Everyone by now knows where I stand on ratings for films which contain extreme violence perpetrated on women [as "Irreversible" did], which is for some unknown reason, allowed to be shown in theatres but can not be shown in XXX videos which must be [by law] bought [and brought in] from a territory. Obviously people living in the ACT [where our national capital is located], and my raunchy fellow Oztrailyunz living up in the NT, are more sophisticated when it comes to sex than their counterpart prudes who live in a state of Australia. When I have an opinion on something as degrading and let's face it, pornographic as "Irreversible" some people accuse me of being 'confronted' and take my remarks as those of hostility or defiance. Too right they are. I'm a freethinking liberal. If people want porn, let them have it. Don't make decent men and women sneak around under the counter buying their XXX videos and DVD's from the ACT or NT. If crap like "Irreversible" is good enough for the theatres then responsible adults over the age of 18 years should be able to own, hire, swap the odd porn flick. Now here's the clue to where this is all leading. I can sense your waiting with bated breath wanting to know where the hell is all this heading. Well, my highly valued readers and dear subscribers here it is. The word confronting also means face up to and deal with. But then you already knew that, didn't you? Of course you did! All my readers are freespirited, brain endowed, lovely creatures who can 1) think for themselves and 2) don't need me to moralize every time a film which contains a sensitive subject comes out with the wrong rating. Right? Of course it's right. I mean, who really cares any more. Hullo? Have all the lights gone out? Of course you do know that this leading somewhere. Right?
Yes it is. You see there is, within this wickedly wonderful film "The Door In The Floor", bits of subject matter that may 'confront' some viewers. There are segments in the film which include: 1) a 16 year old boy masturbating over a gorgeously horny blonde fourtyish womans underwear; 2) absolutely nude scenes of a 16 year old boy having sex with said gorgeously horny blonde fourtyish woman; 3) a statuesquely exquisite brunette 'woman to die for' absolutely butt-naked and showing, dare I say it, her hairy fanny and finally 4) a fully naked father walking in his house with his very young daughter straddled on his hip. I don't think I've missed anything else distressing in "The Door In The Floor", but just in case I did, please let me know after you have seen it and I'll go back for another eye-popping look. I don't know what you think readers, but there seems to be a lot of confronting in this film. Time to get serious. The reaction many people may have is, who gives a damn. It's only a film. And that was my initial reaction when I first left the theatre but afterwards I suddenly though how some unsuspecting person [as was the case with some who went to see "Team America; World Police"] may come away shocked, traumatized and very 'confronted'. Be honest and check the reviews for the film. Have you read any of the above? Of course not. But you have here. And now, if that sort of material might cause you distress, you can scrub "The Door In The Floor" off your film list. Be buggered that it's a fine, highly entertaining and well acted film. People should not have their moral standards 'confronted' while at the cinema. And while some may think I have finally gone insane, the clever ones were right. I did have an ulterior motive in pointing out what some may see as 'confronting' when viewing "The Door In The Floor". I have got a hidden agenda. Tricky bastard, aren't I? On Tuesday 28/02/05 I watched a programme called "The Cutting Edge" on SBS Television here in Australia. It was about the new 'moral crusade' to rid the United States of America, GUD's own country, of an evil that is worrying Americans more than all the poor soldiers killed in Iraq; more than the number killed by guns in the the land where the star spangled banner flaps [ a little tattered these days] in the breeze, and more than the ever increasing drug problem. The banning of low-cut hipster jeans which show too much flesh, underwear and the crack in Americans arses. Yes the land that brought you such groundbreaking television as "The Jerry Springer Show"; cleaned out the weapons of mass destruction in Eyerak; brokered peace in the Middle East without threatening a single soul, and, who for some unknown reason shows naked women on television with black strips over their nipples and, dare I say it, also across their 'fronty bits', has cracked up over a few exposed cracks. If this is GUD's country then all I can say is "heaven help us all." They can't control crack cocaine yet they want to cleanup the arse cracks of many Americans. Stone the bloody Crows. In case you still haven't got it, "The Door In The Floor" is set in the United States; in a swank area of The Hamptons; features an American family, and flies in the face of all that many moral Americans hold near and dear when it comes to morality. One critic said, "I hope that Bridges will be remembered at Oscar time". You've got to be kidding me mate! For what! Seducing and shagging niave women after he's drawn their genitalia, and walking around the house naked with his very young daughter straddled on his hip? I give up! But I hope you don't folks because "The Door In The Floor" is as I've already said, entertaining and features some fine acting. Especially from Kim Basinger who is hot [filmwise] after an outstanding performance in "Cellular". Crew Bytes "THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR" was .......
directed by Tod Williams ["The Adventures of Sebastian Cole"]; screenplay by Tod Williams ["The Adventures of Sebastian Cole"]; original story "A Widow for One Year by John Irving ["The World According to Garp", "The Hotel New Hampshire", "Simon Birch" and "The Cider House Rules"]; costume design by Eric Daman ["The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" and "Forty Shades of Blue"]; production design by Thérèse DePrez ["I Shot Andy Warhol", "Arlington Road", "American Splendor" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"]; edited by Affonso Gonçalves ["The Adventures of Sebastian Cole", "Compulsory Breathing", "The Mudge Boy" and "Forty Shades of Blue"]; cinematography by Terry Stacey ["Bad Bosses Go to Hell", "Things Behind the Sun", "The Laramie Project" and "Just a Kiss"]; original music by V ["Kissing Jessica Stein", "The Buffalo War", "Abbie Down East" and "The Mudge Boy"] produced by Anne Carey ["Ride with the Devil", "The Laramie Project" and "Thumbsucker"], Michael Corrente ["Say You'll Be Mine", "A Shot at Glory", "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town"] and Ted Hope ["She's the One", "The Ice Storm", "In the Bedroom", "Lovely & Amazing", "The Laramie Project" and "21 Grams"]. Casting About "THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR" stars .......
Jeff Bridges ["The Fisher King", "The Big Lebowski", "The Contender", "K-PAX" and "Seabiscuit"]; Academy Award winner Kim Basinger ["The Man Who Loved Women", "My Stepmother Is an Alien", "The Getaway", "L A Confidential" and "8 Mile"]; Jon Foster ["Thirteen Days", "Life As A house" and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"]; Larry Pine ["The Royal Tenenbaums", "The Shipping News", "Maid In Manhattan" and "The Clearing"]; John Rothman ["The Siege", "Dinner Rush", "Pollock" and "Daredevil"]; Harvey Loomis ["The Door in the Floor"]; Bijou Phillips ["Black and White", "Almost Famous", "Tart" and "Havoc"]; Mimi Rogers ["Someone to Watch Over Me", "Dark Horse", "Little White Lies" and "Lost in Space"]; Donna Murphy ["Star Trek: Insurrection", "The Astronaut's Wife", "Center Stage" and "Spider-Man 2"]; Claire Beckman ["Fallout", "Pollock", "The Worm Hole" and "The Thing About My Folks"] and Elle Fanning ["My Neighbor Totoro", "I Am Sam", "Daddy Day Care" and "Because Of Winn-Dixie"] as Ruth. What It's All About

"A beautifully acted examination of the bedeviling and perversely inspiring legacy of family tragedy, it's one of the most sophisticated American films of the year." James Verniere BOSTON HERALD

Ted and Marion Cole are still coming to grips with the tragic death of their two teenage sons. Ted, author of the childrens book "The Door In The Floor", which he also illustrated, has compensated for the loss by pursuing his desire to draw and doting on his little girl Ruth. Marion has never recovered from the terrible accident that took her sons. She spends her lifes in a constant state of melancholy. Ted meanwhile pursues his drawing by inviting attractive, niave women to 'model' for him. He charms them out of their clothes, beds them and eventually leaves. His latest model is the statuesque Eleanor Vaughn and Ted already has her out of her clothes and posing erotically for him. It appears that, this summer, nothing will change for the Coles. Then Ted decides he needs an assistant. He chooses 16 year old Eddie O'Hare, a student who idolizes Ted and his work. Eddie finds Marion fascinating and it isn't long before he starts to fantisize about her. When Marion catches him masturbating over her clothes, she is at first shocked and then flattered. Marion decides it's time Eddie discovered what real sex is all about." The Verdict "It's a sexually boisterous, impudent look at how death affects one American family. A vouyers delight, Tod Williams film "The Door In The Floor" features pedophelia, masturbation, erotic drawings, genitalia and nudity. Putting that aside, most sophisticated members of the audience will find "The Door In The Floor" is a highly entertaining experience thanks to outstanding performances by Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, John Foster and Mimi Rogers. Highly recommended to sophisticated cinemagoers." The Cast

Jeff Bridges Kim Basinger Elle Fanning Jon Foster Larry Pine John Rothman Harvey Loomis Bijou Phillips Mimi Rogers Mike S Ryan Libby Langdon Louis Arcella Robert LuPone Rachel Style Amanda Posner Donna Murphy Marion McCorry Kristina Valada-Viars LeAnna Croom Claire Beckman Tod Harrison Williams Carter Williams

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Ted Cole Marion Cole Ruth Cole Eddie O'Hare Interviewer Minty O'Hare Dr Loomis Alice Evelyn Vaughn Reception Fan Woman at Reception Eduardo Gomez Mendelssohn Bookstore Assistant Frame Shop Clerk Frame Shop Owner Bookstore Customer Effie Glorie Mountsier Mrs Mountsier Thomas Cole Timothy Cole

The Crew Directed by Tod Williams Adapted from the John Irving novel "A Widow for One Year" Screenplay by Tod Williams Produced by Anne Carey/Michael Corrente/Ted Hope Original Music by Marcelo Zarvos Cinematography by Terry Stacey Film Editing by Affonso Gonçalves Casting by Ann Goulder Production Design by Thérèse DePrez Art Direction by Nicholas Lundy Set Decoration by Nick Evans Costume Design by Eric Daman Run Time 111 minutes Rated MA 15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2005 - Focus Features - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved