(rated R)
is a place where secrets lie hidden in every family’s life. Jeff Bridges plays Ted Cole, a famous children’s book author summering in East Hampton, going through the motions with his wife Marion (Kim Basinger). When Eddie (Jon Foster) arrives in the form of a student plucked from Exeter to work as his assistant, the secrets begin to unravel. Full of unexpected twists, shocks and riveting surprises, this (based on John Irving book) story is hailed the “summer’s most provocative film” and lives up to every word of it. The weight of great acting is evenly distributed among the three leads, as their individual and emotional transformations unfold. Bridges’s character is priceless and uninhibited (think “The Big Lebowski”) in a story that feels part “Summer of ‘42”, with the sensitivity, honesty and heartache of “In The Bedroom.” Basinger is disturbed yet stunningly beautiful, but not so much so that her character will intimidate us. Writer/director Tod Williams remains true to Irving’s voice as he brings all of us to the realization that we all have “a door in the floor” we don’t want to open.
