Product Description

A man with cerebral palsy is determined to become a salesman. Studio: Turner Hm Entertainm Release Date: 04/26/2005 Starring: William H Macy Helen Mirren Run time: 90 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8008 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-12-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
This earnest movie about a door-to-door salesman with cerebral palsy (based on the true story of Bill Porter) could have been cloyingly sweet, but a sense of humor and the clear, unpretentious performance of William H. Macy keep it from drowning in sentiment. Door to Door follows Porter from when he first gets his job (by convincing a skeptical sales manager to give him the worst route the company has) in the mid-'50s, to his brief retirement in the late 1990s, when door-to-door salesmen became outmoded by catalogs and the Internet. The depiction of how Porter became part of the lives of his customers may feel a little pat, but the portrait of Porter himself--particularly how his persistent independent spirit was also a wall between him and others--is honest and affecting. Also featuring Kyra Sedgwick and the great Helen Mirren as Porter's mother. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Love Never Goes Extinct
I had heard the story of Bill Porter before I knew his name. I knew the work of William Macy, and that is what pushed me over the edge to view this movie version of the tale of Bill Porter's life from "wanting to be a salesman" to "Salesman of the Year" to "Dinosaur" and finally, full circle, to being an Invisible Thread who wove love into individuals, into a neighborhood and finally into the hearts of viewers like me.

William Macy's performance is excellent, I forgot he was William Macy about 15 minutes into the movie. Helen Mirren was remarkable as his mother - a big inspiration whose presence is felt even after her death both by Bill and by us each time we see him remember her (which is regularly.)

Kyra Sedgwick is luminous as Shelly - early in the movie her character is quite young and she pulls it off beautifully - and we watch her develop into "just a job to keep me going through college" to being much, much more as she matures into an adult side by side, heart to heart with Bill.

The syncronicities - again, woven by the thread of Bill, might have been seen as "accidental" - until we know the heart of the man. Salespeople in all areas ought to watch this movie - it isn't about the products, its about honoring people and showing them how their lives can be impacted by those products.

Finally - this movie reminded me that Love will never go the way of the dinosaur.

Thank you - everyone involved in this film.

Patience and Persistence
One doesn't see the classic DOOR TO DOOR salesman anymore. (The occasional youthful hawker of magazine subscriptions or Girl Scout cookies doesn't count.) But for more than 40 years beginning in 1955, Bill Porter walked the same sales route in Oregon for the (real-life) Watkins Company, which sold (and still sells) an esoteric mix of products from laundry soap to dog biscuits to condiments.

Porter was afflicted with cerebral palsy at birth. In this made-for-TV film, Porter (William Macy) explains its cause as the too assiduous application of forceps by the obstetrician who delivered him. As the film opens, Bill is attempting, at age 21, to land his first job as a salesman, the profession of his deceased father. Porter is encouraged and supported by his mother (Helen Mirren), who writes the words "patience" and "persistence" with ketchup on the outside of her son's brown-bag sandwiches after Watkins reluctantly hires the young man. To prove that he can do the job despite his disability, Porter has challenged Watson by offering to take the toughest sales route that nobody else wants. Soon after, Bill's mother begins to suffer the mental impairment that eventually lands her in an assisted care facility. Bill is now on his solitary own.

If it wasn't for Macy's performance, DOOR TO DOOR would just be another of those warm and fuzzy human interest stories that otherwise makes my eyeballs roll for its political correctness. Macy, who's cast in the lead too infrequently, turns in his best performance since FOCUS (2001) - perhaps better. The actor's depiction of Porter's handicap is a pointed reminder of the difficulties to be surmounted by one so afflicted, even including painful isolation from normal, male-female sexual intimacy and romance.

At the end of the film's credits, the audience is made aware of the fact that the real-life Bill Porter has a website. Out of curiosity, I signed onto it and discovered that it's actually a link to Watson's on-line shopping catalog. It left me wondering if I hadn't just been manipulated into watching a lengthy Watson promo. It's that vague feeling of having been conned that causes me to award 4 stars instead of the five otherwise due Macy's brilliant work.

Door to Door
William H Macy is the most underrated actor in the world today! This is a role for the ages. Macy brings his subtle nuances to the real-life character of Bill Porter, perhaps the most inspirational "salesman" on the planet. This is Bill Porter's story from beginning to end and what agreat story it is. The triumph of one man speaks to us all in a film that moves at a pace that allows the viewer the true enjoyment of knowing a character. At the end of this film, you may laugh or you may cry, but you will never forget Bill Porter and extrordinary story. The supporting cast, especially Helen Miren provide the perfect cast for this perfect story! For a memorable evening of true story-telling at its best, buy and watch Door to Door.