The Door in the Floor
Focus Features | Release Date: July 14, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Surely the best movie yet made from Mr. Irving's fiction. It may even belong in the rarefied company of movies that are better than the books on which they are based. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
One of those rare and complex dramas that you can enter, not simply watch.
90
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
The production is 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. Read full review
90
VarietyDavid Rooney
A thoughtful, melancholy story of love, loss, pain, betrayal and the lingering after-effects of tragedy, The Door in the Floor is an intelligent, impeccably acted, unsentimental drama. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Bridges turns a two-dimensional image into a presence so vital, so filled with breath and blood, that you uneasily fall in love with his character and abandon all thought of the artifice that's brought it to life. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
You can't shut the door on this spellbinder. It gets into your head. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A stunningly well-acted drama for grown-ups. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Everything in the movie -- family demons, May-December sex, the lessons of writing -- ties together with pinpoint precision. That's a pleasure, to be sure, and a limitation, too. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
A surprisingly good film, not quite original but smart, careful and steadfast in its dedication to its characters. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
This hothouse tale of grief, sex and betrayal is told with a cool detachment that renders it commendably unsentimental--and slightly remote. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Well-made, and it held my attention throughout, but this is one of those motion pictures where it's easier to admire than like the final result. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It works as a fascinating and often very funny character study/satire of a famous author, though it loses interest the harder it tries to be profound and falls apart completely toward the end. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Jeff Bridges has enough demons in The Door in the Floor to jam a crowd scene, but the actor's sheer likability remains undiminished. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Williams handles the main line of the story, the war between Ted and Marion, clearly and strongly; you may not always hurt the one you love, but you certainly know how to. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
There are more than a couple of moments in this film, adapted by writer-director Tod Williams from a big swatch of Irving’s multigenerational quilt "A Widow for One Year," that get Irving’s sense of grotesque tragedy and tragic grotesquerie just right Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Bridges is fun to watch, Fanning emerges as Hollywood's best 6-year-old actress, and Rogers's talents are wasted. A likable drama within its limitations. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Bridges turns in another remarkable performance, and he's well-matched by Foster. Read full review
70
Village VoiceEd Park
Eliminates much of its source's plot, focusing on the book's first third. The result is a crisply shot chamber piece for husband, wife, and boy. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The film’s beauty is that, like any good novel, it refuses to sew up its meanings for the audience. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
By the end the story is more satisfying than you might expect. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
Bridges has evolved into a miraculous actor: one who signals wildness through the intensity of his containment. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
To do no disservice to the impressive work of Bridges' co-stars, anytime his ragged writer, in flowing caftans and floppy hats, is on screen, it's impossible to take in anything else, so commanding is his presence. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
That Williams occasionally comes close to the author's layered spirit is a tribute to his passion. But the film fails on a number of levels. First, it is what it is: the prologue to a story that covers four(!) decades. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A handsome-looking movie that's full of the muted greens, browns and grays of the tony Hamptons, director Williams' tale never quite finds its footing. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
When it sticks to the subject, the movie is sad and affecting. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Getting Irving's characteristic blend of quirky comedy and sorrow just right on screen has always been tricky, and writer-director Tod Williams' best efforts aren't enough to make the mix gel. Read full review
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
This is a carefully conceived, thoughtfully orchestrated effort in taste and restraint that ultimately is too restrained and tasteful. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Bridges can't be a whole movie. But he's the main reason to watch. Read full review
60
SalonCharles Taylor
It's nearly impossible to tell whether Williams thought he was making a family tragedy or a sex farce. Read full review
60
EmpireDorian Lynskey
This better-than-the-book adaptation casts quite a spell. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianKaren Karbo
By turns absorbing, unsettling and, for lack of a better word, icky. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Bridges redeems the clichéd role of spoiled artist-sot. He's flamboyantly entertaining, which is more than this otherwise dreary movie deserves. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Rogers gives a brave performance, but there isn't much chemistry between Bridges and Basinger, who were teamed to better effect in 1987's "Nadine." Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Single-handedly, Bridges gives the film what it otherwise lacks -- energy and emotion invested in this damaged man, naked beneath his ballooning caftan, at once sadly ridiculous and ridiculously sad. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
The Door in the Floor feels more about a situation than actual people. It's sensitively rendered, filled with those necessary evocative details, and it never rings true. Read full review
50
The New YorkerDavid Denby
For all its handsomeness and its occasional moments of piercing intelligence, it's a fundamentally depressing piece of work--not because it deals with tragic events and memories but because the characters seem hapless and even stupid, and the writer-director can't, or won't, take control. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Despite the actors' admirable efforts, everyone in The Door in the Floor is too affected, too fancifully written, to come off as anything other than conceits. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Showcasing three individuals whose spiritual and physical journeys are both repellent and mundane, the film is just a long and pointless slog. Read full review
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