Mladen and Del review ‘The End of Oak Street’

Warner Bros.

“The End of Oak Street” starring Anne Hathaway as disgruntled mom Denise Platt, Ewan McGregor as Pollyanna dad Greg Platt, Maisy Stella as mildly interesting daughter Audrey Platt, and Christian Convery as sissy son Brian Platt, and others. Directed by David Robert Mitchell. Score Composer Michael Giacchino. Script writer the same guy as who directed. One hour, 39 minutes. Rated PG-13. Theatrical release.

Plot summary: A time warp blasts a 2-mile diameter of early-1980s suburbia to the Mesozoic era. That’s between 66 and 201.4 million years ago. Feathery dinosaurs, crocodiles, and an amphibian‑like, snake‑y, maggot‑esque beast haunt and hunt each other and people as the Platt family struggles to stay alive while quibbling with each other at regular intervals. There’s a happy ending.      

Spoilers: How else are we going to orient you to the movie so that you understand our review? Huh?

Mladen’s take

Not even Anne Hathaway, who I adore only 0.027 percent less than Mary Elizabeth Winstead, could save “The End of Oak Street.” The poor script writing, hollow family dynamics, and bland depictions of dinosaurs wrecked the movie for me. Also, why did the dog have to live?

“The End of Oak Street” had potential. The potential never turned into anything kinetic.

The director is known for directing a gem of a movie called “It Follows” (2014). I write this with a caveat. I have not seen “It Follows” but Del told me it was a good movie. Yeah, I know.

Hathaway is an Oscar recipient, best supporting actress for “Les Misérables.” She earned a best actress nomination for “Rachel Getting Married.” Most recently, she did good in “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”

Obi-Wan … ah, Gregor has an outstanding lead actor Emmy and a Golden Globe for best actor.

JJ Abrams (“Cloverfield,” Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.) is among the film’s producers and Michael Giacchino wrote the score.

So, why is “The End of Oak Street” so uninspired and uninspiring?

More than anything, the film made the time warp, and the critters that it dropped into Middle America, a thing of complete horror. No. No. No. The movie should’ve moderated the horror of dinosaurs eating people with the mind‑boggling wonder of theropods and sauropods living among us. That – the danger and risks of  mankind facing undeniably stunning and clever dinosaurs – is what makes “Jurassic Park” such a top-notch film to this day. Instead, we get to see two diplodocuses, or whatever, copulating with the roof of a house as their perch. Come on.

“The End of Oak Street” has a fallible micro‑focus. Trying to blend the story of a family falling part while the family is trying to avoid becoming dinosaur kibble didn’t work. Want family drama that fits well inside a monster story? Give “Evil Dead Burn” (2026) a seeing. Or, try 2023’s “Godzilla Minus One.”

“The End of Oak Street” relies on one very stupid choice to carry the story. The stupid choice is made by, of course, the male Platt teenager. Sure, chasing after your dog at night while everything from gangs of pint‑size dinos to a two‑story allosaurus are now your new neighbors is a good idea. And, yes, Lassie comes home just in time to save dumb‑ass Brian later in the movie.

At the end of “The End of Oak Street,” I was nonplussed. The movie had a couple of good scenes, including one that was surprising, if not entirely shocking. All the principal actors played their rolls with sincerity, though at least one of them was unlikeable. The visual effects were mediocre and the soundtrack not a whole lot better. But it’s the script that weakened a good idea for a movie. “The End of Oak Street” squeaks by with a B-.

Del’s take

And I thought I was the one who needed to use the bathroom!

Next time I ask Mladen to see a movie with me I’m going to make sure he has a heapin’ helpin’ of bran flakes for breakfast that morning. What a stuffy take on what was nothing more than a fun summer romp. “The End of Oak Street” isn’t “Anna Karenina,” but it’s not “Melania” either. It’s “Back to the Future” meets “Jurassic Park,” and I’m surprised by how much I liked it.

I agree with Old Grouchy Pants that the domestic squabbling between Denise and Greg Platt seemed unreal and downright uncalled for, especially as the neighborhood pets – and the neighbors, for that matter – are being reduced to dinosaur kibble. I also agree the dialogue just doesn’t snap, and the characters – more importantly, their motivations – were hastily sketched, leaving moviegoers grasping for reasons to care about the Platt family.

But the movie redeemed itself with humor and a mostly nostalgic glance at the recent (for me) past. One gripe: The sound track was lame. In a decade fat with truly iconic, classic tunes, the best they could come up with was Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” and Steve Winwood’s “Valerie”? No Thompson Twins? Flock of Seagulls? Madonna? Tears for Fears? Howard Jones? Not even a Name-That-Tune snippet of Billy Idol or John Cougar Mellencamp?

“The End of Oak Street” isn’t a treatise on anything except maybe how important it is that Mom and Dad not argue in front of the kids. It’s a snapshot of a somewhat fractured and dysfunctional family coming together to cope with a surreal threat, and the fun is in watching them meet that meager expectation while unknowingly rediscovering the bond that made them a family to begin with. It has all the thrills and chills of “Jurassic Park” but the wistful sweetness of “Back to the Future.”

I enjoyed it for what it was – an hour and a half of summer escapism. I heard members of the audience talking to the characters on the screen, saying things like, “Look behind you!” or “Don’t do that!” and that’s when I realized “The End of Oak Street” had accomplished its mission – to entertain.

I’m giving it a B+. It has its flaws, but overall it’s a very entertaining movie. Apart from one shocking scene it should be great for the kids.

Oh, and Mladen … “It Follows” is a masterpiece of modern horror, so no arguments from you, Mr. I-Haven’t-Seen-It Guy.