The End of Oak Street: Honest and No Bias review

What made me watch this movie? Dinosaurs haha. Okay no, I saw a couple trailers when I went to watch all the other movies I’ve reviewed. The wife also saw those same trailers and it got us both to look at each other and say we have to watch this movie. So we waited a month and here we are… or well a day later posting my review. The movie came out on 8/14/26 but we watched it on the 16th because my wife said let’s end our weekend on a good note. To which I said yeah, if the movie is good. Surprise.

Quick Rating: 8.5 The movie had a semi slow start but then in the end felt rushed. It was a slow roller coaster that ended great. Should have been longer — that would have made this movie even better.

Spoilers Ahead:

This movie is set in the 80s. We have a normal family — a mom and dad, two kids, and a pet. Take a guess what type of pet and you win a point. Did you guess it? A DOG!! I love dogs but that’s besides the point of course. Just wanted to see if you were still reading or skipped over. Just kidding, I know you’re there.

Let us continue our tale. So we start at a block party where the neighborhood all gets together and are having a great time. Kids are out playing and parents are talking. There are mini games such as the sack race which we start off with the family doing. There is a water balloon toss and well, block party stuff. I wasn’t born during this era or raised in it, so its accuracy is up to the story and fellow readers. Either way it looked like a great time.

Spoiler/hint: During the movie we are in a scene where we are trying to listen to the people on screen talk, but also during that scene the radio is on and it chimes in a bit. We actually can hear what the radio is saying. The radio is giving us a hint about what is happening. However my wife who was sitting next to me missed that subtle hint. Another hint which some people miss is the daughter is talking about Carl Sagan. These are all hints that something bigger is happening. That leads up to them being taken to where there are dinosaurs.

Spoilers ahead, last warning.

At 11:05 pm they are all awake for different reasons. They realize there is no power and decide that they should all just go to sleep, hoping when they wake up the power will be back. Spoiler: there is no power. The family wakes up and hear screaming for help but dismiss it and say the police will handle it. They notice the dog is missing and the parents decide to go looking for the family dog.

Now the parents are Denise Platt played by Anne Hathaway and Greg Platt played by Obi-Wan Kenobi… I mean Ewan McGregor. The two kids are Audrey Platt played by Maisy Stella and Brian Platt played by Christian Convery.

The parents begin looking for their dog. While this is happening Denise decides to help check on her neighbor. We find out the neighbor died from something that she tried killing with her gun — we see footprints. Then we move over to the dad, Greg, who thinks he found the dog but then sees a shadow that’s too big and starts running. It moves around a bit until all the family has seen or almost seen a dinosaur. Finally we get our first glimpse of a Velociraptor — and not the ones from Jurassic Park, but ones that would more match what they actually looked like. They have feathers by the way. I’m sure you didn’t know that, since most people think dinosaurs look like the ones from Jurassic Park.

So let’s get into the dinosaurs. They did a phenomenal job and I think you would have to see the movie in theaters to get the grand scale of them. They look massive next to humans and houses since they are literally running around in what would be homes from the 80s. You also get the perspective of how fast they are.

One thing I liked but that was a bit out of place was a Titanoboa. This was the largest snake to ever exist — it reached about 50 feet. It was in the movie. As soon as I saw it I told my wife “look, a Titanoboa.” The kid Brian wakes it up from sleeping in a pool and then it slithers away. Later it comes back. In one scene it is seen quietly sliding through the house and no one notices it because of how quiet it is. It goes all the way from upstairs to downstairs and the kids don’t even notice it pass them. They do this so you can get a perspective of how large it is.

Then in another scene we get to see what could either be a T-Rex or an Albertosaurus (they look similar but are not the same). They are chasing the family because well… it wants to eat them. These scenes just work very well, especially if you ignore the actual speed dinosaurs can travel at. All in all it was awesome to see these dinosaurs come to life in a neighborhood so you can see their sheer size and how they could easily wreck a car.

All those things have a great “feel alive” moment. I grew up watching plenty of movies with dinosaurs. I had also wondered what it would look like in our time and area. This movie kind of gave those answers.

As for the acting, let’s get right down to the nitty gritty.

Ewan McGregor plays a dad who is not so confident with himself but also a man who is trying to keep his family together when it is falling apart. He also seems to be secretive — in the beginning we find out he is doing odd jobs and picking up extra shifts as a pizza driver even though he was supposed to quit. The entire time we see him on screen we wonder why he is acting shady. We do end up finding out why, and it may surprise some people. However for those who grew up in the 80s or had a dad in the 80s you can probably figure it out. I only figured it out because I watch a lot of movies and TV shows. Either way his acting was really great. You really wondered what was going on and why he was acting the way he was. There is a pivotal scene where throughout the full movie he seemed like a wimpy dad. That scene makes you see what kind of man he is and shows what a father will do for his family. This scene hit hard — even my wife cried.

Anne Hathaway, from what the movie shows, is more or less the main character. Everyone else is kind of a side character as we are mostly seeing her perspective — a mother in the 80s working to keep control of her household while the father seems to just ignore the family, working tons of hours when he shouldn’t be, and she is simply trying to hold everything together. There is a scene in the beginning which again is a hint to something. She is writing a book and in the book it shows her true feelings about the current status of her life. This scene, from my understanding, is how a lot of women felt. This scene is also a setup for why you see her acting the way she does. It also portrays her as the semi-bad character when certain plot points happen and make you mad at her. She does get a redemption though that is fitting. All in all she did a marvelous job acting like a stressed mother and someone who is doing everything to be in control of a life she seems not able to control.

As for the kids, they did a good job playing their part. They didn’t really do anything memorable to say. They played 80s kids living their lives with dreams and aspirations of what they wanted to do as they got older. Their scenes didn’t really add anything besides maybe giving the story meaning for different scenes. They did a great job but nothing outstanding.

What worked in this movie was the dynamic between Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor. They made you watch a father and mother arguing. They put you in the place of the kids watching what you may think is your family falling apart, and at the same time you feel powerless as you can’t say anything to them while they argue. Since maybe in our own lives we have been in similar situations and you know the answer but at the same time you can shout at the screen but they won’t listen.

As to what didn’t work? That’s tough because more or less everything kind of worked. There was a scene where the son gets beat up from a bully that he had broken his younger brother’s arm for. This scene was kind of pointless. So I guess what didn’t work was scenes that were just filler and added literally nothing to the movie. There weren’t too many, but they did take away from the 1 hour and 39 minutes that definitely could have been used wiser.

Now let’s talk about the soundtrack. While watching the movie you may not notice it too much as there is a lot of things going on. Michael Giacchino made the OST. The music is there but they made sure to mix it so it doesn’t overpower the movie. The somber scenes had somber music and the action had the punchy music you expect, and to be honest it was perfect for this movie. Even going back today while writing this I can listen to the music and it is really, really well done.

All in all I gave this movie an 8.5. The reason stems from a few scenes that felt like a waste and the overall feeling that it was a bit rushed because of the shorter runtime. I’m sure if they made the movie longer it could have been just a bit more polished. But from the middle to the ending it was a blast. The beginning was slow for the build-up, and once the dinosaurs showed up it delivered. This one hits the itch if you love a good dinosaur movie.

So do I recommend it? Absolutely. You will have a great time sitting there and watching it. My wife even said she would totally watch this movie again — just not in theaters. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it’s still enjoyable at home. You just won’t get the full scale of the dinosaurs that way. If you have free time this week or weekend, go see it on the big screen. It’s not for young kids (definitely PG-13), but if your kids are old enough it’s a solid family watch.

Now in audio also to listen to the review