The End of Oak Street

It’s a pretty promising concept (not a spoiler). The squabbling Platt family must work together when their entire neighborhood is transferred, in one of those cinematically convenient “cosmic events,” to a world maybe 200 million years in the past, complete with all sorts of hungry dinosaurs and myriad creepy-crawlies, where they spend 90 minutes of your life trying to not be eaten by extinct species. 

This is inevitably getting some good reviews, which you should read, but after all the hype and theater previews, my main reaction was disappointment. It’s likely one of those movies where the studio spent more on promotion than production. 

Don’t be expecting the awe and joy of Jurassic Park (the first one, anyway). The screenwriting in this Amblin homage is lazy, the repetitive, suspense-free plot is rubbish, the characters lack depth, the special effects are screen-saver level, the lame denouement is a cop-out, it’s surprisingly mean-spirited, and the comic relief is nonexistent (unless you chuckle at the scene of two huge dinosaurs having sex). 

The let-down is magnified by the fact that director David Robert Mitchell’s previous films include 2014’s highly effective It Follows, a little horror gem that still haunts me to this day. (There’s a sequel, unimaginatively titled They Follow, in the works.) 

Finally, I hate to see veteran actors like Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway stooping to this level to get a paycheck. Anyone could do this. Solely for families desperate to keep their spawn entertained. (99 min)