As stated many times over the last few weeks, 2017 has been a tremendous year for movies and for many individual genres. It really has. I've been surprised by how many incredible blockbusters we've seen this summer. But when it comes to comedies, this year has been almost appallingly bad. And no, I'm not talking about comedies in the loose definition of the word- films like The Big Sick and Baby Driver don't count. I'm talking about the pure laughfests that have been Hollywood's bread and butter for years, raunchy spectacles crafted by hilarious people who made a name for themselves with these kinds of films. Every year has at least two great studio comedies, and yet 2017 seems poised to be the first year in a long time without a single one that hits the mark. Baywatch and Rough Night missed by a mile, and if you take a look at the schedule for the rest of the year, it's even more depressing than what came before. Sorry, A Bad Moms Christmas and Daddy's Home 2, but I don't think you'll be joining the pantheon of classic Hollywood comedies.
Which brings me to The House, an R-rated bit of hilarity that, on paper, seems like a slam dunk. Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler doing a filthy farce with a clever concept that will surely generate plenty of laughs? Sounds like a great time to me! But there's a plague going across the film industry this year, a plague that is striking down everyone who was once funny and putting them in awful movies that aren't worth their talent or time. The House is another middling comedy, a series of sketches stretched to the absurd length of 88 minutes, which feels insanely long even if it is one of the shortest mainstream releases of the year. Despite the occasional laugh from Ferrell, Poehler, or rising star Jason Mantzoukas, The House does pretty much nothing right, offering up what feels like an incomplete plot, inept character work, and comedic energy that wears thin pretty quickly.
The story on this one is simple. Scott and Kate Johansen (Ferrell and Poehler) are needy, relentlessly stupid parents who are about to send their only daughter, Alex (Ryan Simpkins), to college. Alex is going to prestigious Bucknell University, and her parents are undergoing real separation anxiety. Unfortunately, there's one other small problem- they don't have enough money. Scott and Kate had been banking on a scholarship from their small suburban town, but when a corrupt city council member (Nick Kroll) decides to do away with the prize, the parents are left to face their greatest fear. But thankfully, there's a back-up plan. Frank (Mantzoukas) is one of the couple's best friends, but after a recent separation, he's down on his luck and looking for a plan to bounce back. After a trip to Vegas, Frank comes up with a brilliant idea- an underground casino. Scott and Kate agree to team up with their friend to make $250,000 in a month, enough to send Alex to college. Of course, things don't quite end up working out as they planned. "Hilarity" and "hijinks" ensue.
The House opens to the song "My House" by Flo Rida, an on-the-nose move that sets the lackluster tone for the rest of the movie. It's a film defined more by its ubiquitous product placement for Stella Artois than its actual comedic value, and it is so devoid of laughs and fresh material that it eventually becomes exhausting. The House feels like a relic from a bygone era of Hollywood comedies- much like Scott and Kate, it's the cringe-worthy cinematic equivalent of a parent trying too hard to be hip. Like the worst of these movies, it's filled to the brim with F-bombs, sex jokes, and shocking comedic violence, but it feels so forced that it fails to ever really tickle the funny bone of the audience. It flails around, attempting to provide something in the way of entertainment, but it never feels properly anarchic or unhinged. It's textbook insanity that we've seen a thousand times before, and I'm so tired of it.
It doesn't help when your movie has no real emotional core or engaging characters. Look, I'm not a supporter of the idea that all comedies need to have serious moments where the characters reflect on their horrible decisions, but you need some investment on the part of the audience. The House tries to do this, but the movie is such a misshapen mess that it ends up endorsing the awful behavior of the lead trio in a strange way. Like this summer's Rough Night, it ends up saying "Yeah, these people are horrible, but THIS guy is way worse!" which is a message that made me scratch my head. Not to mention the fact that Scott and Kate are characters defined by two things- their love for their daughter and their total and complete idiocy. The former is quickly overwhelmed by the latter, and it's hard to care for their struggle to pay for college when they regularly display that they're terrible, terrible people.
But I can overlook some of that stuff. I don't watch comedies for their ethical and moral value- I watch them to laugh. And primarily, that's where The House goes wrong. It never has any sense of comedic momentum, settling for a sketch approach that ultimately fails the film. This movie goes into some seriously strange directions that end up being complete dead ends, and it's honestly baffling at times. To get into some spoiler territory here (not that anyone cares), Jeremy Renner shows up as a gangster during the final act of the film. It seems like it should be a big moment when he kidnaps Alex and threatens Scott and Kate, but Renner quickly has his arm chopped off in horrifically gruesome fashion. Oh, then they set him on fire and murder him. Yeah, that's a thing that happens in this movie. And the movie just keeps going! It just keeps trucking right along with its plot like nothing ever happened. Director Andrew Jay Cohen and co-screenwriter Brendan O'Brien have made some amusing movies before, but The House is almost jaw-dropping in its total lack of storytelling cohesion and comedic value.
So yeah, this is a very bad movie. Not that I was all that surprised by that fact, as Warner Bros. and New Line opted to not screen this film for critics or many audiences for that matter. They dumped this during a crowded month in the hopes that it would disappear forever, and that's exactly what it will do. It has a few chuckles here and there, and yet it simultaneously seems to have no idea how movies are supposed to work. Opportunities for both social commentary and laughs are completely squandered by the film's "Hey, look at me!" approach, and its raunchiness comes off as profoundly forced. It's a tired movie made by stars who are lost in the new era of comedy. Despite the potential for laughs, The House is dead on arrival. There's absolutely nothing to see here.
THE FINAL GRADE: D+ (4.8/10)
Images: WB/IMDB
Which brings me to The House, an R-rated bit of hilarity that, on paper, seems like a slam dunk. Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler doing a filthy farce with a clever concept that will surely generate plenty of laughs? Sounds like a great time to me! But there's a plague going across the film industry this year, a plague that is striking down everyone who was once funny and putting them in awful movies that aren't worth their talent or time. The House is another middling comedy, a series of sketches stretched to the absurd length of 88 minutes, which feels insanely long even if it is one of the shortest mainstream releases of the year. Despite the occasional laugh from Ferrell, Poehler, or rising star Jason Mantzoukas, The House does pretty much nothing right, offering up what feels like an incomplete plot, inept character work, and comedic energy that wears thin pretty quickly.
The story on this one is simple. Scott and Kate Johansen (Ferrell and Poehler) are needy, relentlessly stupid parents who are about to send their only daughter, Alex (Ryan Simpkins), to college. Alex is going to prestigious Bucknell University, and her parents are undergoing real separation anxiety. Unfortunately, there's one other small problem- they don't have enough money. Scott and Kate had been banking on a scholarship from their small suburban town, but when a corrupt city council member (Nick Kroll) decides to do away with the prize, the parents are left to face their greatest fear. But thankfully, there's a back-up plan. Frank (Mantzoukas) is one of the couple's best friends, but after a recent separation, he's down on his luck and looking for a plan to bounce back. After a trip to Vegas, Frank comes up with a brilliant idea- an underground casino. Scott and Kate agree to team up with their friend to make $250,000 in a month, enough to send Alex to college. Of course, things don't quite end up working out as they planned. "Hilarity" and "hijinks" ensue.
The House opens to the song "My House" by Flo Rida, an on-the-nose move that sets the lackluster tone for the rest of the movie. It's a film defined more by its ubiquitous product placement for Stella Artois than its actual comedic value, and it is so devoid of laughs and fresh material that it eventually becomes exhausting. The House feels like a relic from a bygone era of Hollywood comedies- much like Scott and Kate, it's the cringe-worthy cinematic equivalent of a parent trying too hard to be hip. Like the worst of these movies, it's filled to the brim with F-bombs, sex jokes, and shocking comedic violence, but it feels so forced that it fails to ever really tickle the funny bone of the audience. It flails around, attempting to provide something in the way of entertainment, but it never feels properly anarchic or unhinged. It's textbook insanity that we've seen a thousand times before, and I'm so tired of it.
It doesn't help when your movie has no real emotional core or engaging characters. Look, I'm not a supporter of the idea that all comedies need to have serious moments where the characters reflect on their horrible decisions, but you need some investment on the part of the audience. The House tries to do this, but the movie is such a misshapen mess that it ends up endorsing the awful behavior of the lead trio in a strange way. Like this summer's Rough Night, it ends up saying "Yeah, these people are horrible, but THIS guy is way worse!" which is a message that made me scratch my head. Not to mention the fact that Scott and Kate are characters defined by two things- their love for their daughter and their total and complete idiocy. The former is quickly overwhelmed by the latter, and it's hard to care for their struggle to pay for college when they regularly display that they're terrible, terrible people.
But I can overlook some of that stuff. I don't watch comedies for their ethical and moral value- I watch them to laugh. And primarily, that's where The House goes wrong. It never has any sense of comedic momentum, settling for a sketch approach that ultimately fails the film. This movie goes into some seriously strange directions that end up being complete dead ends, and it's honestly baffling at times. To get into some spoiler territory here (not that anyone cares), Jeremy Renner shows up as a gangster during the final act of the film. It seems like it should be a big moment when he kidnaps Alex and threatens Scott and Kate, but Renner quickly has his arm chopped off in horrifically gruesome fashion. Oh, then they set him on fire and murder him. Yeah, that's a thing that happens in this movie. And the movie just keeps going! It just keeps trucking right along with its plot like nothing ever happened. Director Andrew Jay Cohen and co-screenwriter Brendan O'Brien have made some amusing movies before, but The House is almost jaw-dropping in its total lack of storytelling cohesion and comedic value.
So yeah, this is a very bad movie. Not that I was all that surprised by that fact, as Warner Bros. and New Line opted to not screen this film for critics or many audiences for that matter. They dumped this during a crowded month in the hopes that it would disappear forever, and that's exactly what it will do. It has a few chuckles here and there, and yet it simultaneously seems to have no idea how movies are supposed to work. Opportunities for both social commentary and laughs are completely squandered by the film's "Hey, look at me!" approach, and its raunchiness comes off as profoundly forced. It's a tired movie made by stars who are lost in the new era of comedy. Despite the potential for laughs, The House is dead on arrival. There's absolutely nothing to see here.
THE FINAL GRADE: D+ (4.8/10)
Images: WB/IMDB
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