Adapting John Irving novels to the screen is a tricky bit of business.
When the elements come together successfully, the results can take the generally pleasing forms of The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules (for which Irving himself handled screenplay honors).
When they don't, you're stuck with the lumpy Hotel New Hampshire or the treacly Simon Birch, which was loosely based on Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Breaking the tie, The Door in the Floor -- taking its cue from the first part of Irving's A Widow for One Year -- falls satisfyingly into the plus category.
A tragicomic rumination on life and death and love and sex (but not necessarily in that order), 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.
With its tragic emotional underpinnings and complex characters, the Focus Features release would have seemed more at home in the fall release schedule rather than taking on potential blockbusters like I, Robot and King Arthur, but the counterprogramming gambit could work in the picture's favor, giving it a neat jump on all those upcoming awards hopefuls.
As with the earlier section of Irving's 576-page novel, Door chronicles a fateful summer in the splintering lives of an East Hampton couple still struggling to cope with the tragic deaths of their two sons.
While free-spirited Ted Cole (a terrific Jeff Bridges), a successful children's author and illustrator, has seemingly moved on from the mourning process by indulging his weakness for infidelity, his wife, Marion (Kim Basinger), remains in a troubling state of withdrawal.
The pallor over their seaside household has forced their 4-year-old daughter, Ruth (Elle Fanning, Dakota's equally capable little sister), to grow up fast.
But a coastal disturbance soon arrives in the form of Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster), a young man who's ostensibly hired on as Ted's intern but quickly develops a major crush on Marion. Much to his surprise, his feverish sexual yearning is reciprocated, though their steamy affair doesn't exactly lead to a tidy emotional recovery for the damaged family unit.
Williams, who made his feature debut with "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" and is working on a remake of To Have and Have Not for Benicio Del Toro, does a careful job of extracting and reshaping the Irving material, never shying away from the book's more overtly sexual elements, without detracting from the film's own separate identity.
Key to that success is a strong ensemble playing flawed characters that essentially dare the audience to like them.
The fundamentally likable Bridges gamely pushes all that goodwill to the far edge as the unorthodox Ted, logging one of his best performances in the process.
Basinger, meanwhile, who shared the screen with Bridges in Robert Benton's Nadine, really immerses herself into her character's complex layers with similarly impressive results.
Also doing gutsy work is Mimi Rogers, who has been given very little to hide behind as the needy, hot-blooded object of Bridges' daytime affections.
Behind the camera, cinematographer Terry Stacey (American Splendor) is responsible for some truly lovely compositions, movingly underscored by Marcelo Zarvos' eloquent music.
The Door in the Floor
Focus Features
Focus Features and Revere Pictures present a This Is That production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Tod Williams
Based on the novel A Widow for One Year by: John Irving
Producers: Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Michael Corrente
Executive producers: Roger Marino, Amy J. Kaufman
Director of photography: Terry Stacey
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Editor: Affonso Goncalves
Costume designer: Eric Daman
Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Cast:
Ted Cole: Jeff Bridges
Marion Cole: Kim Basinger
Eddie O'Hare: Jon Foster
Eleanor Vaughn: Mimi Rogers
Ruth Cole: Elle Fanning
Alice: Bijou Phillips
Eduardo Gomez: Louis Arcella
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 111 minutes...
When the elements come together successfully, the results can take the generally pleasing forms of The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules (for which Irving himself handled screenplay honors).
When they don't, you're stuck with the lumpy Hotel New Hampshire or the treacly Simon Birch, which was loosely based on Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Breaking the tie, The Door in the Floor -- taking its cue from the first part of Irving's A Widow for One Year -- falls satisfyingly into the plus category.
A tragicomic rumination on life and death and love and sex (but not necessarily in that order), 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.
With its tragic emotional underpinnings and complex characters, the Focus Features release would have seemed more at home in the fall release schedule rather than taking on potential blockbusters like I, Robot and King Arthur, but the counterprogramming gambit could work in the picture's favor, giving it a neat jump on all those upcoming awards hopefuls.
As with the earlier section of Irving's 576-page novel, Door chronicles a fateful summer in the splintering lives of an East Hampton couple still struggling to cope with the tragic deaths of their two sons.
While free-spirited Ted Cole (a terrific Jeff Bridges), a successful children's author and illustrator, has seemingly moved on from the mourning process by indulging his weakness for infidelity, his wife, Marion (Kim Basinger), remains in a troubling state of withdrawal.
The pallor over their seaside household has forced their 4-year-old daughter, Ruth (Elle Fanning, Dakota's equally capable little sister), to grow up fast.
But a coastal disturbance soon arrives in the form of Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster), a young man who's ostensibly hired on as Ted's intern but quickly develops a major crush on Marion. Much to his surprise, his feverish sexual yearning is reciprocated, though their steamy affair doesn't exactly lead to a tidy emotional recovery for the damaged family unit.
Williams, who made his feature debut with "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" and is working on a remake of To Have and Have Not for Benicio Del Toro, does a careful job of extracting and reshaping the Irving material, never shying away from the book's more overtly sexual elements, without detracting from the film's own separate identity.
Key to that success is a strong ensemble playing flawed characters that essentially dare the audience to like them.
The fundamentally likable Bridges gamely pushes all that goodwill to the far edge as the unorthodox Ted, logging one of his best performances in the process.
Basinger, meanwhile, who shared the screen with Bridges in Robert Benton's Nadine, really immerses herself into her character's complex layers with similarly impressive results.
Also doing gutsy work is Mimi Rogers, who has been given very little to hide behind as the needy, hot-blooded object of Bridges' daytime affections.
Behind the camera, cinematographer Terry Stacey (American Splendor) is responsible for some truly lovely compositions, movingly underscored by Marcelo Zarvos' eloquent music.
The Door in the Floor
Focus Features
Focus Features and Revere Pictures present a This Is That production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Tod Williams
Based on the novel A Widow for One Year by: John Irving
Producers: Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Michael Corrente
Executive producers: Roger Marino, Amy J. Kaufman
Director of photography: Terry Stacey
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Editor: Affonso Goncalves
Costume designer: Eric Daman
Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Cast:
Ted Cole: Jeff Bridges
Marion Cole: Kim Basinger
Eddie O'Hare: Jon Foster
Eleanor Vaughn: Mimi Rogers
Ruth Cole: Elle Fanning
Alice: Bijou Phillips
Eduardo Gomez: Louis Arcella
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 111 minutes...
Adapting John Irving novels to the screen is a tricky bit of business.
When the elements come together successfully, the results can take the generally pleasing forms of "The World According to Garp" and "The Cider House Rules" (for which Irving himself handled screenplay honors).
When they don't, you're stuck with the lumpy "Hotel New Hampshire" or the treacly "Simon Birch", which was loosely based on Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany".
Breaking the tie, "The Door in the Floor" -- taking its cue from the first part of Irving's "A Widow for One Year" -- falls satisfyingly into the plus category.
A tragicomic rumination on life and death and love and sex (but not necessarily in that order), 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.
With its tragic emotional underpinnings and complex characters, the Focus Features release would have seemed more at home in the fall release schedule rather than taking on potential blockbusters like "I, Robot" and "King Arthur", but the counterprogramming gambit could work in the picture's favor, giving it a neat jump on all those upcoming awards hopefuls.
As with the earlier section of Irving's 576-page novel, "Door" chronicles a fateful summer in the splintering lives of an East Hampton couple still struggling to cope with the tragic deaths of their two sons.
While free-spirited Ted Cole (a terrific Jeff Bridges), a successful children's author and illustrator, has seemingly moved on from the mourning process by indulging his weakness for infidelity, his wife, Marion (Kim Basinger), remains in a troubling state of withdrawal.
The pallor over their seaside household has forced their 4-year-old daughter, Ruth (Elle Fanning, Dakota's equally capable little sister), to grow up fast.
But a coastal disturbance soon arrives in the form of Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster), a young man who's ostensibly hired on as Ted's intern but quickly develops a major crush on Marion. Much to his surprise, his feverish sexual yearning is reciprocated, though their steamy affair doesn't exactly lead to a tidy emotional recovery for the damaged family unit.
Williams, who made his feature debut with "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" and is working on a remake of "To Have and Have Not" for Benicio Del Toro, does a careful job of extracting and reshaping the Irving material, never shying away from the book's more overtly sexual elements, without detracting from the film's own separate identity.
Key to that success is a strong ensemble playing flawed characters that essentially dare the audience to like them.
The fundamentally likable Bridges gamely pushes all that goodwill to the far edge as the unorthodox Ted, logging one of his best performances in the process.
Basinger, meanwhile, who shared the screen with Bridges in Robert Benton's "Nadine", really immerses herself into her character's complex layers with similarly impressive results.
Also doing gutsy work is Mimi Rogers, who has been given very little to hide behind as the needy, hot-blooded object of Bridges' daytime affections.
Behind the camera, cinematographer Terry Stacey ("American Splendor") is responsible for some truly lovely compositions, movingly underscored by Marcelo Zarvos' eloquent music.
The Door in the Floor
Focus Features
Focus Features and Revere Pictures present a This Is That production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Tod Williams
Based on the novel "A Widow for One Year" by: John Irving
Producers: Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Michael Corrente
Executive producers: Roger Marino, Amy J. Kaufman
Director of photography: Terry Stacey
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Editor: Affonso Goncalves
Costume designer: Eric Daman
Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Cast:
Ted Cole: Jeff Bridges
Marion Cole: Kim Basinger
Eddie O'Hare: Jon Foster
Eleanor Vaughn: Mimi Rogers
Ruth Cole: Elle Fanning
Alice: Bijou Phillips
Eduardo Gomez: Louis Arcella
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 111 minutes...
When the elements come together successfully, the results can take the generally pleasing forms of "The World According to Garp" and "The Cider House Rules" (for which Irving himself handled screenplay honors).
When they don't, you're stuck with the lumpy "Hotel New Hampshire" or the treacly "Simon Birch", which was loosely based on Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany".
Breaking the tie, "The Door in the Floor" -- taking its cue from the first part of Irving's "A Widow for One Year" -- falls satisfyingly into the plus category.
A tragicomic rumination on life and death and love and sex (but not necessarily in that order), 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.
With its tragic emotional underpinnings and complex characters, the Focus Features release would have seemed more at home in the fall release schedule rather than taking on potential blockbusters like "I, Robot" and "King Arthur", but the counterprogramming gambit could work in the picture's favor, giving it a neat jump on all those upcoming awards hopefuls.
As with the earlier section of Irving's 576-page novel, "Door" chronicles a fateful summer in the splintering lives of an East Hampton couple still struggling to cope with the tragic deaths of their two sons.
While free-spirited Ted Cole (a terrific Jeff Bridges), a successful children's author and illustrator, has seemingly moved on from the mourning process by indulging his weakness for infidelity, his wife, Marion (Kim Basinger), remains in a troubling state of withdrawal.
The pallor over their seaside household has forced their 4-year-old daughter, Ruth (Elle Fanning, Dakota's equally capable little sister), to grow up fast.
But a coastal disturbance soon arrives in the form of Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster), a young man who's ostensibly hired on as Ted's intern but quickly develops a major crush on Marion. Much to his surprise, his feverish sexual yearning is reciprocated, though their steamy affair doesn't exactly lead to a tidy emotional recovery for the damaged family unit.
Williams, who made his feature debut with "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" and is working on a remake of "To Have and Have Not" for Benicio Del Toro, does a careful job of extracting and reshaping the Irving material, never shying away from the book's more overtly sexual elements, without detracting from the film's own separate identity.
Key to that success is a strong ensemble playing flawed characters that essentially dare the audience to like them.
The fundamentally likable Bridges gamely pushes all that goodwill to the far edge as the unorthodox Ted, logging one of his best performances in the process.
Basinger, meanwhile, who shared the screen with Bridges in Robert Benton's "Nadine", really immerses herself into her character's complex layers with similarly impressive results.
Also doing gutsy work is Mimi Rogers, who has been given very little to hide behind as the needy, hot-blooded object of Bridges' daytime affections.
Behind the camera, cinematographer Terry Stacey ("American Splendor") is responsible for some truly lovely compositions, movingly underscored by Marcelo Zarvos' eloquent music.
The Door in the Floor
Focus Features
Focus Features and Revere Pictures present a This Is That production
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Tod Williams
Based on the novel "A Widow for One Year" by: John Irving
Producers: Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Michael Corrente
Executive producers: Roger Marino, Amy J. Kaufman
Director of photography: Terry Stacey
Production designer: Therese DePrez
Editor: Affonso Goncalves
Costume designer: Eric Daman
Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Cast:
Ted Cole: Jeff Bridges
Marion Cole: Kim Basinger
Eddie O'Hare: Jon Foster
Eleanor Vaughn: Mimi Rogers
Ruth Cole: Elle Fanning
Alice: Bijou Phillips
Eduardo Gomez: Louis Arcella
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 111 minutes...
- 6/18/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"A Shot at Glory" is a straightforward sports movie that treats its audience to ample amounts of soccer action while keeping its characters and narration as simple as possible. Filming in several stadiums with as many as 10 cameras rolling at once, the film captures the excitement this sport generates among its fans. A pet project for producer-star Robert Duvall, who recruited Denis O'Neill to pen the script, "Glory" is directed by Michael Corrente with an eye to establishing a Scottish blue-collar environment and the passion many of its citizens feel for soccer.
Made more than two years ago and languishing on the shelf since its debut at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival, "Glory" is now getting a shot at theatrical glory beginning with a limited release in six Southwestern cities from newly formed MAC Releasing. The film should attract sports fans as well as fans of Duvall. Overseas, where soccer fanaticism is rampant, the film is an even surer bet. (The film has already played in the United Kingdom, where it did well.) Nor does it hurt that Scottish soccer great Ally McCoist makes a lively acting debut with the movie.
Duvall plays Gordon McLeod, the manager of a Second Division team in a tiny seaside town in Scotland that hasn't won a championship in 100 years. With such a limited fan base, the team's American owner, Peter Cameron (Michael Keaton), is eyeing a move to Dublin, Ireland, to add value to his investment.
Meanwhile, Peter hires a former First Division superstar, striker Jackie McQuillan (McCoist), willfully ignoring the fact that booze and womanizing have brought down not only Jackie's career but also his marriage to Gordon's daughter, Kate (Kirsty Mitchell). Earning more money than the rest of the team combined and still beholden to his errant ways, Jackie nevertheless inspires a winning streak that carries the lightly regarded team into the Scottish Cup finals. The proposition then becomes simple: If the team beats the Glasgow Rangers -- against almost impossible odds -- Peter will allow it to remain in its hometown.
There are only two real conflicts in the movie: between Gordon and his spoiled son-in-law and then between Gordon and his own daughter, whom he has never forgiven for marrying Jackie. There is a nominal villain in Brian Cox's Martin Smith, the Rangers' manager and a onetime mate of Gordon who long ago betrayed him. But Martin pops up too late in the movie to generate any sparks.
Mostly, the movie exists for its soccer action and its fine acting. Duvall's Gordon is a man who treasures his betrayals. He nurtures wounds with righteous pride and wears disdain for those who inflict them as if it were the finest silk. In his first role ever, McCoist displays such a friendly, amiable manner he could easily continue in acting if he so desired. Mitchell and Morag Hood ably play the two long-suffering women of Gordon's life -- his daughter and wife. Oda Schuster is most amusing as the team's aging locker room assistant, who seemingly performs all chores that do not involve kicking a ball.
Alex Thomson's cinematography is first-rate, and Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits) provides the Scottish-accented music, which nicely punctuates the action and occasional moments of drama.
A SHOT AT GLORY
MAC Releasing
Revere Pictures presents a Butchers Run film
Credits:
Director: Michael Corrente
Screenwriter: Denis O'Neill
Producers: Robert Duvall, Rob Carliner, Michael Corrente
Executive producers: Roger Marino, Steven Bowman
Director of photography: Alex Thomson
Production designer: Andy Harris
Music: Mark Knopfler
Costume designer: Trisha Biggar
Editor: David Ray
Cast:
Gordon McCleod: Robert Duvall
Jackie McQuillan: Ally McCoist
Peter Cameron: Michael Keaton
Martin Smith: Brian Cox
Kelsey: Cole Hauser
Kate: Kirsty Mitchell
Irene: Morag Hood.
Running time -- 114 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Made more than two years ago and languishing on the shelf since its debut at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival, "Glory" is now getting a shot at theatrical glory beginning with a limited release in six Southwestern cities from newly formed MAC Releasing. The film should attract sports fans as well as fans of Duvall. Overseas, where soccer fanaticism is rampant, the film is an even surer bet. (The film has already played in the United Kingdom, where it did well.) Nor does it hurt that Scottish soccer great Ally McCoist makes a lively acting debut with the movie.
Duvall plays Gordon McLeod, the manager of a Second Division team in a tiny seaside town in Scotland that hasn't won a championship in 100 years. With such a limited fan base, the team's American owner, Peter Cameron (Michael Keaton), is eyeing a move to Dublin, Ireland, to add value to his investment.
Meanwhile, Peter hires a former First Division superstar, striker Jackie McQuillan (McCoist), willfully ignoring the fact that booze and womanizing have brought down not only Jackie's career but also his marriage to Gordon's daughter, Kate (Kirsty Mitchell). Earning more money than the rest of the team combined and still beholden to his errant ways, Jackie nevertheless inspires a winning streak that carries the lightly regarded team into the Scottish Cup finals. The proposition then becomes simple: If the team beats the Glasgow Rangers -- against almost impossible odds -- Peter will allow it to remain in its hometown.
There are only two real conflicts in the movie: between Gordon and his spoiled son-in-law and then between Gordon and his own daughter, whom he has never forgiven for marrying Jackie. There is a nominal villain in Brian Cox's Martin Smith, the Rangers' manager and a onetime mate of Gordon who long ago betrayed him. But Martin pops up too late in the movie to generate any sparks.
Mostly, the movie exists for its soccer action and its fine acting. Duvall's Gordon is a man who treasures his betrayals. He nurtures wounds with righteous pride and wears disdain for those who inflict them as if it were the finest silk. In his first role ever, McCoist displays such a friendly, amiable manner he could easily continue in acting if he so desired. Mitchell and Morag Hood ably play the two long-suffering women of Gordon's life -- his daughter and wife. Oda Schuster is most amusing as the team's aging locker room assistant, who seemingly performs all chores that do not involve kicking a ball.
Alex Thomson's cinematography is first-rate, and Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits) provides the Scottish-accented music, which nicely punctuates the action and occasional moments of drama.
A SHOT AT GLORY
MAC Releasing
Revere Pictures presents a Butchers Run film
Credits:
Director: Michael Corrente
Screenwriter: Denis O'Neill
Producers: Robert Duvall, Rob Carliner, Michael Corrente
Executive producers: Roger Marino, Steven Bowman
Director of photography: Alex Thomson
Production designer: Andy Harris
Music: Mark Knopfler
Costume designer: Trisha Biggar
Editor: David Ray
Cast:
Gordon McCleod: Robert Duvall
Jackie McQuillan: Ally McCoist
Peter Cameron: Michael Keaton
Martin Smith: Brian Cox
Kelsey: Cole Hauser
Kate: Kirsty Mitchell
Irene: Morag Hood.
Running time -- 114 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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