Every year -it seems- there’s one CAN’T-MISS! trailer that, in turn, yields a film one could easily miss. Last year it was A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. This year it’s The End of Oak Street.
And it’s not even that these films are terrible; the problem is the trailers describe a film so wonderful that the ensuing mediocrity is depressing. One, especially this particular one, wishes whoever edited the trailer had also edited the entire film, because, baby, the trailer slaps!
The film … less.
The Platt in the quiet suburbia of Anywhere, Michigan. It’s summer and it’s 1982. Hence, fashion and phone usage are both … unimpressive. Denise (Anne Hathaway) is hopeful novelist. Greg (Ewan McGregor) is the breadwinner, but he currently isn’t winning much bread. His company let him go and he’s been working as a pizza delivery guy to help pay the bills.
Oh, wouldn’t it be nice if there were just no bills to pay?
Be careful what you ask for. [The film didn’t ask this question; but it should have given the plot.]
So, first there are signs of prehistoric activity … a plant that went extinct millions of years ago here, a pile of dino droppings there … and then the whole block up and leaves. One, night. Oak Street and perhaps a quarter-mile radius extending from the Platt’s house up and moves to the Mesozoic era. Of course, the people that live there only get the message through the pain of modern-tech failure: the power is off, the phones don’t work, nor do the radios, and the water runs dry. It all seems like a mystery until exploring happens and the family realizes that The End of Oak Street borders a swamp instead of a highway intersection. In fact, their entire neighborhood is now surrounded by prehistoric flora and fauna.
And, of course, every creature in the Mesozoic was a predator, so it takes no time at all for the neighborhood watch to be replaced by a neighborhood, watched. The deaths begin shortly after. You’d think these people never visited the Mesozoic.
Actually, what I really 
feel is that these jokers have absolutely no conception of survival skills. This is where the film fails for me. After a wonderful premise, the film devolves into rap session where the family Platt reveals they don’t have any good ideas … or any ideas at all, for that matter. They do use this time while clearing out the powerless fridge to discuss the existence of God. Such conversation, however, is short-loved and unfulfilling.
The End of Oak Street plays like a poor man’s Jurassic Park. And, believe me, that particular man is VERY poor. I was suitably unimpressed with the first 90 minutes of action. Yeah, there’s some cool predators, and a whole lot of questions, but writer/director David Robert Mitchell gave us a sour family making very poor choices. The film is almost entirely redeemed by the concluding ten minutes. The question is: will you hang around long enough to get there? My guess is “no.”
There once was a family called “Platt”
Who landed in dino-times with a splat
Wholly unprepared
And more than a little scared
Nice decision making, you asshat(s)!
Rated PG-13, 99 Minutes
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Writer: David Robert Mitchell
Genre: Underwhelming
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People that haven’t seen the trailer
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People that have
