Right at Your Door (2005)

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/09/2008 Run time: 96 minutes Rating: R Product Description

Completely Off

I watched this video expecting to see something similar to what was mentioned in the blurb on the case. In reality, the story was pretty much the opposite. The characters were not sympathetic and the drama was a little overdone.

I would have had a better review had the movie actually been what was on the box. The ending was cheap and contrived. You're expecting some awesome event only to find, naturally, the military is our enemy. Now, is that a new and original twist?

I would recommend that you watch at your own risk. October 14, 2008

Terrorism hits home in this very personal look at the effects on one couple

It's present day Los Angeles, and terrorists have detonated several "dirty bombs" in the heart of the city. The immediate damage is bad enough, but these bombs are carrying a deadly toxin in their ash, and it's starting to blow out to the suburbs. Many hundreds of thousands of are dead or likely to die.

RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR posits the above scenario...but as a very low budget film, we see the story from the point of view of two suburbanites, Brad (Rory Cochrane) and Lexi (Mary McCormack). This thirty-something, childless couple are moving into a new house, and in the morning, Lexi heads off to her downtown job with a cellphone that needs charging. Brad, who might be some sort of musician or something that keeps him at home, goes about his day.

A chilling scene occurs. We see Brad brushing his teeth, listening to some rock on the radio. Suddenly, the familiar sound that signals a "test of the emergency broadcast system" starts. How many times have we heard that. We know exactly how long that tone goes on before the "this is a test" starts. So does Brad, so when the tone goes on longer than usual, we see the tension enter his body...just as it would ours. We KNOW something that isn't a test is about to happen.

Brad hears that downtown LA has been hit with explosions. He tried to call Lexi...but remember, her phone is dead. In the early scenes of the movie, we see him panicking and running for this car to go find his wife. He sees scenes of growing chaos around him, smoke in the distance and a rapidly increasing police presence. He even witnesses the police shooting a man who has clearly made it to the suburbs from downtown because his car is covered in ash.

Brad reluctantly goes back home. He's joined in his house by an elderly Hispanic man who had been doing some work on the house next door. The man tells Brad they need to seal up the house before the toxic ash comes their way. Brad, naturally, is reluctant to seal his wife out...but eventually he agrees, and they tape up the house just as the ash begins to drift down.

But then Lexi shows up, obviously already feeling the effects of what she's been exposed to...and Brad cannot let his wife into the house. From there, emotional, physical and moral challenges occur. I don't want to tell you any more, because describing the plot is hardly the point anyway.

The TONE of RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR is what grabs us. At first, we understand the panic & fear than anyone would feel. Seeing this movie via Brad's point of view not only makes it work within the limited budget...but it makes the scale of the disaster personal and we can empathize. Later, as news from the scene becomes murky and rumors of what's "really happening" at the hospitals and quarantine sites begins to spread...a feeling of dread and paranoia sets in. The movie isn't quite taking the path of "the cure is worse than the disease" or "we are our own worst enemies" by showing soldiers who will shoot anyone or Americans killing each other...but it does convincingly show how common sense can collide with fear, and when mixed with sketchy information, can lead to some bad choices.

RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR gets a lot of details right. This isn't a nuclear explosion after all...so electricity remains mostly on and the radio / TV coverage is constant. Cell phone service continues unabated, and we get a sense, through calls with family members, of an "outside world" that is physically untouched and normal...but also reeling with the enormity of what has happened.

Mary McCormack (who is doing such a nice job on the new TV series "In Plain Sight") is convincing as the wife who is at first appalled at being locked out of her own house and then finds reserves of bravery. If only her eye makeup hadn't been so terribly bad (she's been crying, you see, so much of the makeup is smeared all over her face during much of the movie). But it is Rory Cochrane, whom I'm sure I've seen before but never taken notice of, who owns the movie. He's in literally all but two or three scenes...and his ordinary guy demeanor is just right for the film. He's not a coward...but he is full of fear anyway. He loves his wife...but also fears his own death if he touches her again. The dynamics between the two are almost as interesting as figuring out everything that's going on around the disaster.

The film is not perfect. Although it's only 96 minutes...it feels stretched. Some scenes in the middle seem to cover the same ground a few times. I think 10 minutes could have been lost and the film would have had a very crisp pace. As it is, it drags at times. And the nighttime scenes are TOO murky.

Writer/director Chris Goran, with a background as an art director, has made a very nice first film. It has ambitious themes and it knows its limits VERY well. The budget never feels stretched. He makes the needed small scale work for him, because it adds to the mood of isolation.

(I hope I've made it very clear that this is a drama about moral choices we make in the face of extreme stress and danger. It is NOT an action movie or a horror movie or a sci-fi movie...or a political movie. I've seen a few reviews from viewers who clearly expected such and thus blasted the film.)

RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR also has an unneeded but still effective surprise in store at the end. It felt a little like a gimmick...but was still chilling.

Overall, I have to recommend this solid, effective outing. It was a nice surprise.
September 19, 2008

Praise for an Independent Film

For an independent film this is spectacular. Like many others have said is is extremely thought provoking, and has sorta the same feeling I had when I saw Cloverfield, in the beginning it also has some of the not so nice feeling of 9/11. All in all good movie, great beginning and end, with a sorta stale middle. Plot could have had more ups and downs but all in all worth seeing. July 14, 2008

Thought Provoking and Frightening Drama for Modern Times... no, really!

Wow. Let's start at the end of the movie (without being a spoiler) and tell you that my daughter, husband, and I all sat there with our jaws dropped for some time at the stunning outcome of the film. It was a plausible ending, yet with all the other completely likely realistic drama that could happen going on throughout the film, we overlooked this detail. Which, I think was the point. And as for the story ending-- that was great. Now, to the subject matter -- while it is grim, a chemical attack happening in America is possible. And what would you do? This film makes you wonder all sorts of things. It kind of makes your heart ache to ever leave your loved ones... ever. There's a lot going on in the film as far as "message" goes, so you can make up your own mind on what you think the director is saying. Loved this film. I personally would rate this as one of the best films I've seen in a LOOOONG time. They took a risk making a film on this subject matter, and some nice suprises were good. June 8, 2008

Pretend you're not at home

As has increasingly become the case, I made the mistake of trusting horror buff movie reviewers at a certain "bloody" website once again and ended up renting (thankfully not buying) this arty little throwaway of a flick.
Right at Your Door tells the tale of a young married couple living in Los Angeles whose affections and committment for each other are put to the ultimate test when they become the victims of a terrorist biochemical attack.
The movie begins somewhat servicably enough with a decent score by TomandAndy, as we are introduced to a young couple whose marriage may or may not be a little strained due to the fact that the wife is the primary bread winner. While on her way to work the terrorist dirty bomb attack goes down with husband (Cochrane, an underratted actor in my opinion) trying frantically to reach his wife by any and all means to see if she's alright.
Eventually we learn that the bomb has unleashed unknown chemicals into the air and has sent the city into a panic.
SPOILERS AHEAD: Long story short, the wife makes it back to the house where her husband has already taped up the windows and doors forming a makeshift quarrantine. Various silly attempts at tension and drama ensue and then before you know it, the movie (which seems a lot longer than it is because it's boring) ends on a completely foreseeable note when we learn that the husband has doomed himself, and not his wife, by locking himself in the house and her out. Confused? don't be, the movie sucks.
And I'm not judging it on the basis of it's obviously limited budget, nor the actors, who both do a wonderful job with such an amateurish script and story to work with. I'm judging it on pure entertainment and intellectual value, it's lame, boring and a waste of time. May 6, 2008

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