The End of Oak Street Review
This throwback Spielberg-like dino flick will have you thrilled at the nostalgic vibes, dino scares and pacy, fun time in the cinema.
Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are going through relationship troubles. Their kids, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery) can tell. But all of that goes out the window when blinding lights transport them, and their entire neighbourhood, millenia in the past. One minute, it’s 1982 - the next, they find their little 80’s slice of suburbia invaded by dinosaurs, and they have to fight to stay alive.
The End of Oak Street feels like a movie from a different era. And that’s not just the costuming (which is remarkably nostalgic with its 80’s vibes), or the setting, or the performances and dialogue.
No, this film feels like a movie from another period. A time when a good original idea could get made, and find an audience. When movies didn’t need to be 5 hours long (this is only 1 hr 40 mins and flies). When you could just have a good time and lose yourself in someone’s imagination.
Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway are great in this film. They play a struggling married couple who are forced into cooperation by their uniquely prehistoric circumstances, and both have moments to shine. Hathaway in particular takes the cake, but she has a lot more to work with given some of the events of the film.
The dinosaurs are also rendered in fun ways. Sure, there are questions about whether the neighbourhood is too staged for the film, whether the dinosaur behaviour is designed to keep our main characters alive, and how hard exactly can Greg swing that baseball bat. But if you suspend your disbelief and enjoy the film for what it is, there’s enough tension here to keep you on edge.
Outside of a handful of minor side plots (the lesbian relationship for Audrey, and Brian’s bully saga, both feel unearned and unnecessary), the film keeps itself tightly on a single track and benefits from that choice. It’s funny when it needs to be, scary and tense in spades, and occasionally heartwarming. Above all, it feels fresh and original - and for a movie so steeped in throwback nostalgia, that’s saying something.
