The House
Reviews by Paul Preston
Welcome to Today I Watched…, a series of posts documenting my new challenge – watch a movie a day for the rest of my life. Keep coming back to TheMovieGuys.net to find out what I watch each day…and get my take on it.
When I see a movie that’s a new release in theaters or on demand, I’ll give it a proper review in the “Reviews” or “Home Viewing”, otherwise, I’ll write about it here.
July 3, 2017 – The House
My friend Randy has two kids, so we don’t get out to the movies as often as I’d like. This summer is so bereft of good movies, mostly coughing up dumbass blockbusters, I thought that when Randy had a free night to hit a movie, that we were a lock to enjoy ourselves at The House, clearly not a blockbuster action movie, instead a Will Ferrell/Amy Poehler comedy! Damn you, The House, for killing my ONE good night with Randy…
Very early on, I knew The House was in trouble. Ferrell and Poehler play parents who are dropping off their daughter at college for a campus visit and instead of funny moments that might come from the pain of that moment, we get unfortunate bits. Ferrell and Poehler start a role-playing game with their daughter so she can learn to avoid dangerous situations and people and it just tanks in a big way. There’s nothing real about it, there’s little funny about it and it almost seems like Ferrell and Poehler are only half into it. And sadly, it sets the tone for the rest of the film.
Ferrell and Poehler can’t afford the college their daughter wants to attend, so they start and underground casino in their suburb. Eventually, Ferrell gains a reputation as “The Butcher” and they risk being found out. My ongoing mantra on Will Ferrell is that he’s hilarious, even in movies that aren’t (like Land of the Lost), but he’s flailing here. Both leads are working really hard and it’s not like they’re doing it to save a dragging script, there’s a good movie in here, but on top it’s just a mash of noise. Not just from the leads, but there are fight club scenes that play themselves out and aren’t as funny as the idea of them and the usual formula of piling on the violence and blood for laughs. That’s been played out since Ben Stiller held up Steve Coogan’s severed head in Tropic Thunder.
Supporting actors like Rob Huebel and Nick Kroll put in just enough of a performance of their ancillary characters to warrant an IMDB credit, but nothing of their work stands out. In the end, Ferrell and Poehler don’t have chemistry like they had with other co-stars like Mark Wahlberg and Tina Fey. If this movie really dealt with the pain of the middle class finding themselves being unable to pay for higher learning, the film might’ve found unique ground to mine bigger laughs and offer up some real social satire. Opportunity missed.
Directed by: Andrew Jay Cohen
Release Date: June 30, 2017
Run Time: 88 Minutes
Rated: R
Country: USA
Distributor: Warner Brothers
