' THE END OF OAK STREET ' : FILM REVIEW SNIPPET

 

CINEMASCOPE : When Dinosaurs aren't the problem. Despite some fine performances and a good enough story and pacing, at the end, there seems to be something missing from The End of Oak Street.

A FAMILY surviving by barricading themselves in their house to hide from hostile creatures -sounds like a familiar plot, doesn't it?

For The End of Oak Street - whose writer -director is David Robert Mitchell [ It Follows ]  and producers include J.J. Abrams [ Star Trek,  Star Wars ] - the answer is obvious : as big as they can go, while keeping nostalgia strictly within sight.

Oak Street is set in its titular neighborhood in Flowervale, Michigan. The year is 1982, a time when families weren't plagued much by modern technology. 

The most they had, as we see time and again, were Walkmans [ portable audio cassette players ] that ran on standard AA batteries.

The Platt family, like all of their quiet suburban neighbors, lives a seemingly happy life, partaking in sack races and eating frosties together while watching the morning broadcast on their 16 inch CRT television.

However, their contentment hides issues that can be easily overcome with a few days of  heart-to-heart conversations.

Denise [ Anne Hathaway ] feels trapped in her marriage and secretly writes an autobiographical novel as a means of escape.  Greg [ Ewan McGregor ], braving a severe blow to his pride after losing his job, hides a pizza delivery gig and a drinking problem from his family.

Their daughter, Audrey [ Maisey Stella ] feels the heavy weight of her parents' failing marriage, and stresses over her future and college aspirations. Brian 

[ Christian Convery ], her younger brother, deals with typical kid anxieties : neighborhood bullies and a tendency to run away from responsibilities.

Their dog Starbuck, does what dogs typically do : runs away to poop on the neighbour's yard. The excrement, however, is five feet high and four feet wide.

Amidst Michael Giacchino's unrelenting background score - which takes you back to  Steven Spielberg's fantastical 1980s Americana  - we see flashes of light and big bubbles that first dinosaurs to Oak Street, and then teleport the whole neighborhood to the prehistoric age.

This is where the balancing act tilts in favor of a survival film and out goes most depth.

!WOW! thanks Mohammad Kamran Jawaid.