I have to ask: do audiences really want to watch another dinosaur movie? Most likely, yes, as long as the plot brings something new to the concept. That’s where The End of Oak Street teeters on failure. This is one of those movies that needs a back-end explanation instead of playing out as another too-predictable tale. The trailers give too much away: a stretch of neighbourhood has been teleported away, and the folks caught in the zone have to either become the next Stone Age family or find a way back.
As for how much of Flowervale was sent back, all we know is that a significant chunk is probably Disneyland-sized. The wide shot says it all, and instead of a tight-knit group, we have pockets of confused humans wondering why dinosaurs are lurking in their backyards! As for a plot, all we know is that the Platt family is in dire straits, and they are kind to some neighbours but not others. Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg’s (Ewan McGregor) marriage is falling apart, and the kids, after overhearing the problem, are desperate to see their parents work things out.
As for whether that narrative device is enough to hold everything else together, there isn’t much.
The movie has definite Jurassic World vibes, particularly in the way the survivors race from one set piece to another, and that’s not the kind of film I wanted to see. Treating dinosaurs as walking behemoths that attack everything in sight just to eat, well… they certainly aren’t going to be man’s best friend. There is a dog, though, which is sort of like a MacGuffin. Somehow, he manages to stay hidden until he is needed to save the day!
That subplot is really bad. I could smell it coming a mile away. As for the supporting cast, ranging from Mel Jacobs (P. J. Byrne) as the stereotypical annoying neighbour to Mrs. Huddleston (Anne Gee Byrd), the kindly grandma type, I couldn’t help but think there is no originality in this Spielberg-style film.
And by the time the dinos come roaring, they of course die.
Once the novelty of wondering who is going to be dino-chow wears off, The End of Oak Street becomes another survival thriller built around a parent trying to keep the kids alive. The frustrating part is that the movie has the ingredients for something considerably stranger.
The sudden displacement could’ve been explored through Audrey (Maisy Stella), the nerd who seems to know everything. Her speculation could’ve led to a few science experiments to figure out why the air smells so strange, rather than simply having her offer theories. She would’ve been the one warning everyone about how dangerous it is to jump into an Einstein-Rosen bridge portal. She’d be geeky enough to say that. Back then, the more familiar term would have been hyperspace. As for her brother (Christian Convery), I’m surprised he didn’t want to wear a tin foil hat!
Although the ’80s were an era of uncertainty and Reaganism, science can never tell whether that Wow! signal will manifest again. Sometimes, a film doesn’t need every mystery spelled out, but a departure from the usual point of view could help breathe fresh air into a familiar narrative that otherwise goes nowhere.
Writer-director David Robert Mitchell had a winner with It Follows, but that doesn’t mean he’ll have another hit with this one. Too many questions are raised, and there is no real effort to answer them. What is presented feels like a spec script that got the green light before it was finished. When the rules aren’t written down, I was left wondering whether I had missed something when I dozed off for a few seconds. Whether the movie even has them is questionable.
By the time the credits rolled, I was less interested in figuring it out and simply thought, yeah, I want the lost time back. Although The End of Oak Street offers a new beginning for a few families and survivors who evaded the random teleportation event, I still wonder whether they will just be at it again after the credits roll.
3 Stars out of 5
The End of Oak Street Movie Trailer
