Review – The House

Will Ferrell is an actor who, for some reason, has a direct line to my funny bone.  Not my literal one, though, because that would be weird, but my metaphorical one.  I don’t know why he has this affect on me, but he does.  Even his more inferior movies make me laugh.  And once again, Farrell has succeeded in getting a slew of chuckles out of me in The House.  It isn’t one of his best movies, nor one of his worst ones.  This is a funny, entertaining, ridiculous, slightly stupid movie that highlights some great comedic talent.

When Scott (Ferrell) and Kate (Amy Poehler) realize they don’t have enough money to pay their daughter’s college tuition, they team up with their emotionally unstable friend Frank (Jason Mantzoukas) and start running a casino out of Frank’s house to get the money.  However, the success of the casino causes a slew of people to attempt to stop them, including the police, a sketchy town politician, and a local gangster.

The plot of the film allows for some wild shenanigans between our casino runners.  Working long nights for this typical family is tough, as they have no idea what they are doing.  But soon, they become drinking, smoking, partying parents who beat up their neighbors if they don’t pay their debts.  Some of the stuff falls flat, but most of it is amusing.  However, there was never a moment of true hilarity, like one where I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, which is unfortunate for the talent involved.  There is a subplot about town corruption that is an after-thought and the whole bit about the local gangster is about five minutes long, which is a shame because I wanted more from that.  We also get themes about family dynamic and growing up that are used only as devices and never really taken seriously.

The House lets its talent shine and they carry the movie.  Ferrell, Poehler, and Mantzoukas are all equally great.  Ferrell has had a tendency in his past films to overshadow the rest of his cast with his brilliant improv and sometimes over the top antics.  But here, he tones it back a little and lets Poehler and Mantzoukas go a little wild, which makes for comedy success.  Ferrell and Poehler are perfect as the immature and unprepared parents and watching them go from sweet, innocent suburbanites to casino owners with violent habits is wild ride.  The two have perfect chemistry together, as we buy them both as comedic actors and as desperate parents.  But it was Mantzoukas who stole the show for me.  Mantzoukas, known mostly for his performance as Rafi on the T.V. show The League (2009), is uproarious as Frank.  His line delivery and facial cues are priceless, causing the most laughs throughout the movie.  Mantzoukas has been working his way up in the movie game and I hope this is the movie where audiences will start to take notice of him.

The House is an entertaining comedy that showcases some of the most talented comedic actors we have working today.  Some of the humor falls flat and the general plot is kind of stupid, but it offers up enough laughs and fun for a mostly satisfying experience.

Did you see The House?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.