DVD
REVIEW: RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR
01/27/08
After “Right at Your Door”
ended, I thought that a more appropriate beginning to the
movie would have Rod Serling saying “You're traveling
through another dimension…”. The movie plays just like a
Twilight Zone episode and even has its very own ironic
ending. Chris Gorak directorial debut is better than a make
for TV movie, but its lack of character development and the
fact that the two leads pretty much have to carry the whole
movie never lets it elevate its status beyond good. The only
saving grace is the plot.
In “Right at Your Door” Brad ( Rory Cochrane ) is an
unemployed musician who is bowled over when he hears an
explosion. From the news report he finds out that the
explosion came from around the area where his wife Lexi
(Mary McCormack) works. He goes out in his car and tries
frantically to find her, but is unsuccessful because the
police have sealed of the area to keep people away from the
toxic fume. Brad races back home and seals of his house with
plastic wrap to keep the fumes out. However, that night Lexi
shows up, but Brad knows she is contaminated. What should he
do.? Does he let her in?
The interesting thing about this movie is the moral question
it presents. What would you do in this situation? The
premise of the movie is excellent. The problem is with the
lack of character develop and the characters themselves. You
barely know anything about Brad to care about him and you
know a little bit more about Lexi, but it is not enough to
fix the lack of on screen chemistry these two lack. Add to
this the fact that they are on the screen about 90% of the
time. Chris Gorak, who is also the writer did a really good
job of handling the use of Alvaro(Tony Perez) who ends up in
Brad’s house. Alvaro does the exact opposite of Brad as if
saying he knows what is important.
This is a bare bones DVD and doesn’t have much in the way of
features. Lionsgate acquired this movie at Sundance for
about three millions dollars, but the movie did pretty bad
on its theatrical release. Hence, they didn’t put much
effort into this DVD. However, the movie is fairly
entertaining and still deserves three stars, but it could
have been a lot better.
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English
5.1 Dolby Digital
English 2.0 Dolby Surround
Subtitles English/Spanish
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Commentary by Writer/Director Chris Gorak
Forearm Shiver: An interview with Chris Gorak -
Chris Gorak discusses how he came up with the idea for the
movie. (25:44)
Film School: Tips on making an independent film with
Chris Gorak - Some pretty interesting tips from first time
director Chris Gorak. A must see for any film buff. (14:34)
Alternate Ending Scripts - Two scripts of
alternate endings are presented neither ending could have
saved the movie. Actually the ending they went with is a lot
better than the two presented here.
Review
By Brad Peterson
brad@smartcine.com
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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