The End of Oak Street (2026) * *

 

Directed by:  David Robert Mitchell

Starring:  Ewan McGregor, Anne Hathaway, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery, Jordan Alexa Davis, P.J. Byrne

If Jurassic Park and its endless sequels hadn't come about, The End of Oak Street would seem fresh and new.  However, we've seen humans evading dinosaurs on screen for thirty-plus years now and it has worn thin, no matter what type of packaging it comes in.  

The End of Oak Street successfully captures a time and place (1982 Michigan suburbs) without poking fun at it.  The Platts, with father Greg (McGregor) and Denise (Hathaway), and siblings Audrey (Stella) and Brian (Convery) are going through issues as the movie opens.  Audrey and Brian suspect something is wrong with their folks and even speculate on whether a divorce is imminent.  It isn't quite at that level yet, but Greg is forced to deliver pizzas to stave out bill collectors and Denise is a teacher writing a book which she claims isn't about her family, but once Greg discovers its existence, he sure isn't convinced.  I'm reminded of the scene in Funny Farm (1988), in which Andy's wife tells Andy the children's novel she's writing isn't about him, but the name of the clueless main character is in fact Andy.

As the family tries desperately to hold it together, there is mention on the radio about NASA exploring fissures in space and every night, a loud noise is heard in the neighborhood following by a very bright light.  Are aliens in the offing?  Thankfully no, but instead a few days later, the neighborhood is transported back in time to when the dinosaurs roamed, or did the dinosaurs propel forward in time to 1982 Michigan?  Either way, the dinosaurs are hungry (they are all apparently carnivorous) and the Platts and their neighbors don't have time to marvel at the prehistoric creatures because they're busy trying not to be eaten.  Just like Jurassic Park's sequels saw the dinosaurs as something to be hunted or run from, The End of Oak Street strictly sees them as perpetually deadly and only interested in seeing the humans as a new food source.

McGregor and Hathaway are far superior to the material.  They do their best, as does the rest of the cast, to inject some life into characters whose sole purpose is to avoid being eaten.  Once you've seen one person running frantically from giant dinosaurs, you've seen them all.  The End of Oak Street manages to pull a happy ending out of its hat with some clever plot twists and taking advantage of time travel paradoxes.  But in the end, what we have here is a journey into the typical.