The End of Oak Street

The latest work of Amblin-colored '80s nostalgia comes from writer/director David Robert Mitchell and producer J.J. Abrams. Abrams' own example of this directorial cosplay, Super 8, was about as disappointing as it gets, despite being produced by Spielberg himself. It was all about surface recreation of a time and a vibe without any of the bits that actually made us love those movies. Mitchell seems equally interested in paying surface-level homage, but without the pretentious feeling that the mere act of recreating a vibe is something oh so very special. The End of Oak Street, for all its impressive visuals, feels like a simple, humble summer entertainment that's not out to do more than provide a good time at the movies. It's as much Joe Dante as Steve Spielberg. That's both a plus and a minus.

Set in 1982, the greatest year ever to be a movie-loving 12-15-year-old, The End of Oak Street stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as a married couple whose relationship is foundering. They try to keep their marital problems from their two kids, Maisy Stella and Christian Convery, but the youngsters know what's going on. Those relationship issues start to feel pretty insignificant as soon as a time loop somehow transports their suburban neighborhood back to the prehistoric age, and they must run from, hide from, and fight dinosaurs of all sizes and temperaments. With no time wasted on how this time-travel occurred or how the convenient escape bubble works, this tight little family action picture delivers the goods without overstaying its welcome or overdoing its many set pieces.

Hathaway gives a wonderful performance as the emotionally conflicted but fiercely devoted mom. It's absurd how much more of a role she gets in this underwritten piece of summer fluff than in this year's sure-to-be-awards-fav, The Odyssey, where her Penelope could have been played by a cardboard standy of Anne Hathaway. She gets to play more in the first 30 min of this movie than in the entirety of that film, and The End of Oak Street is worth seeing for her performance alone.

Unfortunately, every other character in this movie is so bland and blank. McGregor would have fit right into The Odyssey since he's playing an idea of a character rather than a flesh-and-blood human being. There's no interiority to McGregor's character or, for that matter, the two kids. They're all about as disposable as the rest of the nameless neighborhood dwellers who become dino droppings. Then there's Jordan Alexa Davis as the new kid on the block. She's introduced early on and then re-enters the story late in the game as if she's going to add something to the proceedings. Nope. Not in terms of narrative anyway. What a missed opportunity.

It's surprising and disappointing that Mitchell would create such bland protagonists. One of the things that made his first three films, The Myth of the American Sleepover, It Follows, and Under the Silver Lake, so distinctive and effective was the way he could create unique and dimensional characters, often with very little screen time. And since he doesn't feel the need to explain the how of this movie, the stakes feel even lower. It's hard to get too worked up about the survival of characters you don't really care about in a situation that feels like it only exists to serve a premise, and therefore you never really worry about whether or not these folks are gonna make it through the ordeal. (OK, I worried for a couple of minutes about one of them, but that was pretty short-lived).

Then there are the dinos, which may be the reason folks come out to this movie in the first place. They look and move basically the same as the ones we first experienced in Jurassic Park three decades ago. Movie dinosaurs, and most other giant digital film monsters, have basically looked the same ever since that film (though never quite as credible). Thus, it's hard to feel much shock and awe upon seeing them once again, though Mitchell does stage some of the attacks in clever ways and shows us one key behavior that no Jurassic Park sequel has thought (or dared) to show. I'm not sure why it's still somehow thrilling to see X-wing fighters and other signature spaceships flying in the Star Wars milieu (even though those movies have become pretty unwatchable), yet seeing dinosaurs roam the Earth again was only exciting once; but that does seem to be the way it is for me.

Despite all my complaints, I still had a good time with this movie. It's undeniably fun, and did I mention how great Hathaway is? The End of Oak Street may be one of those films I liked more for what it avoided than what it actually achieved, but I still recommend it.