Directed by: David Robert Mitchell
Written by: David Robert Mitchell
Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

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Considering his previous films include the acclaimed horror It Follows (2014) and arthouse conspiracy thriller Under the Silver Lake (2018), it’s a bit puzzling to see David Robert Mitchell directing a studio dinosaur movie. Thankfully, though, The End of Oak Street is not just another tiresome Jurassic Park (1993) rehash, but rather an original story written by Mitchell himself — one whose premise takes its characters’ present, and turns it prehistoric.

Set in the early ’80s, Mitchell’s film follows Denise Platt (Anne Hathaway) and her husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), who live together with their two children, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), along with dog, Starbuck, in a quaint suburban neighbourhood. After a number of strange, unexplained occurrences and a subsequent storm caused by increased solar flare activity, the Platt family — along with the rest of Oak Street — find themselves transported back in time to a prehistoric landscape inhabited by dinosaurs.

Sure, it’s a bit of a vague setup, but it facilitates the film’s main attraction: dinosaurs on driveways. However, it takes too long to arrive here, as the first act is preoccupied with exploring the Platts’ family dynamics. Hathaway and McGregor’s chemistry is awkward from the off, although once it’s established that the couple’s relationship is on the rocks, this makes a little more sense. Not quite enough to excuse McGregor’s often stiff performance and regularly lifeless line deliveries, though. Anyway, audiences won’t be here for the family drama — although a suburban-set Anne Hathaway melodrama is always welcome — it’s the promise of dinosaur action that’ll have put bums on seats.

The End of Oak Street certainly offers an exciting array of prehistoric predators, both for audiences to enjoy and characters to evade, ultimately proving more fun than frightening. Harkening back to films of decades past, it tries to tap into the same nostalgia that shows like Stranger Things and films like It (2017) have evoked so keenly. There’s an obvious attempt to capture that Spielbergian magic of fun family adventures too, and often Mitchell’s film feels like it’s at the crossroads between E.T. (1982) and Jumanji (1995), but its tonal confusion holds it back from finding a more distinct direction of its own.

With such a ludicrous premise, it was always going to be a struggle to take much of anything seriously. This is why, when the audience knows what’s coming, it’s hard to become invested in Denise and Greg’s tedious relationship drama — especially as things become so silly when the dinosaurs arrive. Still, Mitchell endeavours to continue this emotional exploration throughout his script — and Hathaway really tries, acting circles around everyone else — but with a difficult blend of adventure, comedy and drama to manage, The End of Oak Street simply gives itself too much to do, as if isn’t dealing with dinosaurs wasn’t enough!?

Yet after narrowly avoiding extinction, or at least that of the audience’s attention, for most of the runtime, the third act somehow starts to come together — life finds a way, eh? Albeit a little too late to completely salvage what’s come before, it’s here that the action feels at its most exciting, with the humour and heart adding to, rather than distracting from it. What follows is a finale that some will find saccharine, but it carries with it such a genuine sweetness that comes closest to unlocking the deeply sought-after sentimentality Mitchell has been chasing throughout, in turn doing just enough to see The End of Oak Street avoid becoming an outright dino-disaster.

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Star Rating: ★ ★

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