Hello! This past week I enjoyed seeing one of this summer’s most fun popcorn flicks called The End Of Oak Street starring the incomparable Anne Hathaway. This is a very good year for my girl and I loved seeing her in The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Odyssey. She will also be in Verity coming out in November, I believe, which I do plan on seeing just because it’s her even though I hated the book with a passion lol. But I digress. The End Of Oak Street was a wild ride that moved rapidly with nonstop thrills, the occasional jump scare, and dinosaurs galore. Honestly, Jurassic World who? The End Of Oak Street was the fresh take on dinosaurs that we all needed and left the latest installment of Jurassic World in the dust! Let’s discuss in a spoiler free setting, as per ushe:
^^^ As always, I have no rights to this video!
The year is 1982, it’s summertime and the living is easy. Kind of. Denise, her husband Greg, children Audrey and Brian, and family dog Starbuck live in a picture perfect suburban neighborhood. Families barbecue, children play together, and you can always count on a neighbor for help. Behind closed doors, however, Denise and Greg’s marriage is strained and their kids are constantly hearing them bicker. Denise goes through the motions while her husband works odd jobs and delivers pizza and when everyone is asleep, she heads to the basement to work on a book she is writing in secret.
Denise’s elderly neighbor is editing her book and after wrapping up their session requests her help. A strange plant grew out of nowhere in her yard and they each have no idea what it could be. Denise snaps a picture on her Polaroid camera, uproots the plant, and heads to the library to investigate. To her surprise, the librarian tells her this plant has been extinct since the time that dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The following night, a huge storm takes place with bright lights flashing that definitely doesn’t look like lightening. The power in the neighborhood goes out and Denise’s family hits the hay in the hopes that the storm has passed and the power will be on when they wake up.
That is not the case and what’s worse, Starbuck is nowhere to be found in their backyard. Greg and Denise decide to look for the dog together while the kids hold tight and step into an unfamiliar new world. Their neighborhood has turned into Jurassic Park overnight! The landscape has changed to lush greenery, mountainous terrains, and huge lakes and dinosaurs wander in search of something tasty to eat. Within minutes, the street devolves into chaos with families trying to escape, many of them not making it beyond their own front door.
Greg and Denise book it back to their kids and begin the process of boarding up their home. But they can’t stay there indefinitely and need a plan to get themselves back to 1982. Their daughter, Audrey, suggests that they could have entered a portal to go back in time and that could have been the bright light they saw during the storm. The trick is for that light to appear again, find it, and avoid the dinosaurs at all costs. Will this family learn to work together and make it home alive? Or will they be stuck on Oak Street forever? Watch the movie to find out!
If you are looking for a short and sweet action packed movie, then you can stop your search. The End Of Oak Street has you covered! This flick clocked in at one hour and forty minutes and after the brief introduction to the family and neighborhood every scene was more insane than the next. The threat of the dinosaurs was so palpable I found myself holding my breath as they wreaked havoc creating close calls that were centimeters away from disaster. Not only were the dinos fearsome but they were so well designed and it was such a nice change of pace to see these creatures in a movie other than Jurassic Park.
The only thing I really didn’t care for in The End Of Oak Street was the son, Brian, who was just whiny and annoying the whole time. My beloved Anne Hathaway made up for it in spades, though! It was wild to see her wielding a gun and being a total badass because I’m so used to her girl next door roles. As she always does, she played the part so well and my eyes were never not on her even when dinosaurs were mauling her neighbors lol. If you are an Anne Hathaway fan like me, this is a must see. Even if you’re not, this is a must see because this was one of the most exciting action movies I have seen in ages!
Overall, I am going to rate The End Of Oak Street with a nine out of ten stars. If Brian wasn’t so cringy it would have been a perfect ten!
Have you seen The End Of Oak Street? What did you think about it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah