The End of Oak Street

When it comes to summertime movies, many viewers expect fun thrill rides, escapist fare at its best. At the same time, though, as the summer movie season winds down, expectations tend to lower by the time August rolls around, when the dregs of its remaining releases are unceremoniously rolled out. But, every so often, audiences are in for an unexpected nifty little treat when a sleeper offering hits theaters. Such is the case with the latest effort from writer-director David Robert Mitchell, a Spielbergian sci-fi retrothriller that skillfully drops elements of the “Jurassic Park” franchise into 1980s suburbia, and it does so with a deft mix of heart-pounding action-adventure and raucous, often-campy humor. The film follows the adventures of the Platt family, mother Denise (Anne Hathaway), father Greg (Ewan McGregor), and teenage children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), along with their mischievous but resourceful pooch, an Australian cattle dog named Starbuck. On the surface, everything seems fine, though, as soon becomes apparent, there are some simmering troubles in family household (marital discord, financial difficulties, potential problem drinking, the dashed dreams of adolescence). However, after a bright, intense light appears during a thunderstorm one night, the Platts’ world gets turned upside down as their neighborhood experiences a series of infrastructure collapses, along with the appearance of anomalous plant life, specimens that appear to belong to extinct prehistoric species. But that’s only the beginning, as these developments are followed by the presence of dinosaurs. Needless to say, the residents of Oak Street are stunned at what they find, and it’s not long before survival and escape become imminent concerns. But how? What’s more, how did all of this come about? Those are the questions the family and their neighbors face as their world crumbles around them. Admittedly, the premise of this story is a relatively simple one, and it occasionally turns repetitive and derivative as it plays out. However, these shortcomings are made up for by great action sequences and raucously funny laughs, many of them deliberately over the top and characterized by ample but restrained gratuitousness (though squeamish viewers may still wish to bow out). A number of typical Spielbergian tropes are also included here, such as the curmudgeonly neighbor (P.J. Byrne), the kindly old lady down the street (Anne Gee Byrd), the mild-mannered but unexpectedly tough, gun-toting mid-lifer (Emily Kuroda), the neighborhood bully (Hudson Meek) and the beautiful new neighbor girl (Jordan Alexa Davis), all of whose story threads figure into the flow of the narrative and are sufficiently wrapped up by the time the credits roll. But perhaps the biggest surprise here is the film’s integration of subtle but effective themes one might not anticipate from a production like this, such as messages related to second chances, redemption and forgiveness, which are skillfully incorporated without beating viewers over the head (credit the expertly penned script for this). Thankfully, while many critics acknowledge that there are numerous respectful nods to the “Jurassic” franchise, most astutely appreciate the big nostalgic fun in this, despite a cantankerously vocal minority of cynical peers who contend such attributes are out-and-out ripoffs of classic cinematic content. I suppose one could see things that way, but that spoils the fun, begging the question about the half-empty/half-full glass metaphor, one that ultimately comes down to your view/your choice. So what’s it going to be? Given the dearth of good, entertaining pictures at this time of year, in my view, “The End of Oak Street” is genuinely a welcome breath of fresh air in an otherwise-stale room, a late summer release that’s truly “dino-mite.”

"The End of Oak Street" is yet another fossilized production from an entertainment industry out of fresh ideas. This is essentially Jurassic Park in 1980's US suburbia. The lead in is overlong, rather boring, more than a little cliched, leaning heavily on 80's nostalgia to carry it. Beyond that, it's predictable dinosaur action hi-jinks, a basic family adventure, with a dash of time travel nonsense. Very limited upsides include okay but hardly sterling acting and reasonable special effects. In summary, in this reviewers estimation this flick is what you churn out when you have no fresh ideas. A wholly bland watch that wont challenge the synapses.

Check out my full review @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/the-end-of-oak-street-movie-review-a-stylish-amblin-style-spectacle-undone-by-tonal-indecision/ Rating: B- THE END OF OAK STREET is a well-built summer blockbuster whose biggest obstacle is its own indecision about what it wants to be. The dinosaur spectacle is thrilling, Anne Hathaway anchors it with real gravity, Michael Giacchino’s score elevates nearly every set piece, and the Amblin-inspired craft on display is a genuine pleasure to watch unfold — but the moment the film tries to layer real emotional stakes onto a story built for popcorn thrills, the seams show, and they never fully close back up. Setting the right tone is a promise to the audience about how much to feel, and breaking that promise even once can undo a lot of goodwill a movie has otherwise earned.

Ok, so the whole premiss is fairly flawed. The idea that dinosaurs could roam the streets of an American town without the military - normally first on the scene if you drop your ice cream - taking centre stage with their missiles, tanks and helicopters is even more far-fetched than the idea that velociraptors and Tyrannosaurs might be gobbling up suburban citizens. But it's true! After some some very loud and unexplained noises and some brightly flashing lights, the "Platt" family awaken to find their dog missing. Perhaps "Starbuck" has gone for a coffee? Son "Brian" (Christian Convery) is very concerned but soon that's the least of his problems as with dad "Greg" (Ewan McGregor), mum "Denise" (Anne Hathaway) and sister "Audrey" (Maisy Stella) they find themselves holed up in a home with some seriously noisy and peckish neighbours. How can they possibly fight back with - literally - only a bow and arrow and a baseball bat? What now ensues is just good fun, and what's more all of the cast look like they are enjoying this daft Jurassic romp with shades of "Mysterious Island" (1961) thrown in for good measure. It's end-to-end stuff with plenty going on and although I could have done without some of the obligatory family dysfunction that always seems neccessary these days, I found this to be a great deal better than I was expecting and Hathaway proved to be something of an entertaining revelation.

Dread creeps, chaos strikes / Jurassic meets Gremlins' smile / Anne Hathaway owns it #filmreviewhaiku

**A Great Premise That Never Quite Lives Up to Its Potential** The End of Oak Street has one of those premises that immediately sells you on the movie: an ordinary suburban neighborhood suddenly finds itself surrounded by prehistoric wilderness and dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the movie itself never becomes quite as interesting as that setup. There’s definitely fun to be had here. The dinosaur sequences are entertaining, Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor are good, and the movie moves along quickly enough that it never really becomes boring. I also appreciated that it feels more like an old-fashioned adventure movie than another attempt to build a giant franchise. The problem is that it spends a surprising amount of time on fairly generic family drama when there’s a much more interesting story happening outside the house. The characters never become compelling enough to justify how much attention is given to their problems, and some of the emotional moments feel forced rather than earned. It also wears its Spielberg influences very heavily on its sleeve. There’s nothing wrong with trying to capture that 1980s Amblin feeling, but at times it feels less inspired by those movies than like it’s deliberately trying to recreate them. Still, dinosaurs attacking suburbia is a pretty difficult concept to make completely boring, and there are enough good sequences here to make it worth watching. I just wish the movie had embraced the weirdness of its premise a little more. **6/10**