Review: Right At Your Door
Starring Mary McCormack and Rory Cochrane. Directed by Chris Gorak. Rated R. 2006, 96mins.
Review Score: ** - Mildly Recommended.
A few years ago I saw a trailer for a film with a ‘What-If?’ concept centered around a large-scale dirty bomb release in downtown L.A. I immediately got the usual B-movie sensation that previously urged me to see such paranoia films as Outbreak, Arlington Road, and Phone Booth. Though I really wanted to see this film, I forgot the name and just couldn’t remember anyone that was associated with the project. So, as time would have it, I forgot about the film other than my vague description about the story. Imagine my surprise when I read a list from AlwaysWatching.com that had the 125 Great Movies & TV Shows You May Not Have Known Are Available on Netflix Watch Instantly. Though there are definitely several worthwhile films I still need to see from that list (particularly the Pusher trilogy and The Orphanage), I immediately found Right At Your Door again and was determined to check it out via my Xbox 360 last night.
So after checking up on Lita at Berkeley, where we had some comforting burgers, I returned home to start the film up right away.
Though it premiered at Sundance in 2006 and was picked up by Lions Gate for $3 million, I always felt like the film was never released in theaters. I had kept my eye out for it, though when I explained the premise to other people, nobody knew what I was talking about. Even Lita, who was at the same screening where I saw the trailer, couldn’t remember what I was talking about. Now that I finally rediscovered the title, I checked out Box Office Mojo to see what was up with the release. Turns out it was released on 20 screens and shuffled away after debuting at 58th for the weekend. That certainly wasn’t a good sign, though sometimes a distributor just doesn’t get it right. I wondered if this might be the little movie I could stand behind and declare a casualty of poor marketing and distribution.
The premise of the movie is simple: a couple is separated during a major disaster and one remains safe while the other is already affected by the devastation. In this case, Brad (Rory Cochrane) is unemployed and staying at home for the day while his wife Lexi (Mary McCormack) goes off to work in downtown L.A. After some time, Brad is listening to the news on the radio and hears the report on dirty bombs being detonated in the city. He tries to reach his wife’s office but is stopped by the police blockades and urged to return home. After witnessing some police brutality, Brad does go home and finds his neighbor’s handyman in his house asking about what is going on and as the two listen to the news report, they decide to seal up the house with plastic and duct tape to prevent any of the dangerous chemical ash from getting inside and possibly killing them. Of course, the big issue is that doing so pretty much prevents Brad’s wife from being able to get inside if she does return.
Predictably, Lexi does survive and manages to get home. She and Brad have the expected conflict over how to manage through this situation and we eventually do reach a conclusion that most people would not see coming. Despite my love of twist ending films, somehow I just didn’t feel very satisfied by the twist that is presented in Right At Your Door. There’s some creativity in it, but I just didn’t feel very much shock. It almost seemed as though the big twist ending was just written in as a device for selling the film, which is a shame because the final revelation isn’t dumbed-down nor is it too far-fetched.
Though we are made to assume that Brad and Lexi will be supplying most of the story through their dialogue, the film really puts them on the side and constantly tries to use radio broadcasts, supporting characters, and even just visuals of the house to tell us what is really going on. This wasn’t the two-person show I was expecting and when it did stick with the dialogue between Brad and Lexi, it ended up feeling oversimplified. When I thought of the premise of one set and two main characters, I imagined a story about isolation, but instead the world does interfere with the couple several times and often makes them seem like they’re just a subplot in a larger story.
Overall, the level of paranoia in Right At Your Door is tense and interesting enough to warrant waiting to find out what happens to Brad and Lexi. Chris Gorak, in his writing and directing debut, is capable of delivering a simple story with some really engaging moments. Both Cochrane and McCormack are convincing enough as the worried and struggling couple and it’s very easy to sympathize with them and worry about their problem. Though made on a limited budget, the production design and the look of the house covered in chemical ash and duct tape feels incredibly real (likely due to Gorak’s previous experience as a production designer). However, Right At Your Door strikes me more as a B-movie made at that genre’s B-movie level (a B-movie’s B-movie?). Too often I found myself feeling like a specific aspect was “somewhat good” or “somewhat capable” and, in the end, I can only recommend it as “somewhat of a worthwhile time”.