The House

This review may contain spoilers!

A comedy film in which not a single member of the cast seems to have any chemistry with another. I would give The House a 3/10.

This is a film that does it's best to get progressively more absurd as the film goes along, this really crazy and over the top comedy is the film's greatest strength. There's never really a point where the feature takes itself seriously and that was something I could appreciate.

Will Ferrell, who played Scott Johansen, is quite natural performing the awkward mannerisms of his role; he went on to really embrace the darker crime boss persona that his character developed into. Amy Poehler, who played Kate Johansen, is a lot of fun as the immature character of the leading duo; Poehler clearly enjoyed playing her role up in a way that was very over the top.

However the best performance came from Jason Mantzoukas, who played Frank. This was a character who was very wild and went through several extremes of emotion throughout the feature. Mantzoukas really does some great work on his delivery and puts a lot of effort into the scenes he is in. I really enjoyed how natural this role felt, he seemed like he had a justifiable presence in this film and was always the character who made you laugh.

I really didn't feel like there was much to the plot of the story; the basic concept of creating a casino to pay for a daughter's tuition is very hastily introduced and anything to add any further depth to the film doesn't really hold interest. There is a lot of time spent pitching comedic scenes and bits that just act as very obvious time-fillers; you start wondering if there'll ever be much more developed beyond the basic idea but you're left quite disappointed. The gangsters subplot doesn't never goes anywhere, the daughter discovers her parents scheme and this has no impact, then you get the corrupt city councillor antagonist who is exceptionally predictable to watch. The cinematography is so boring to watch, and the POV or extreme close up shots that are scattered throughout only serve to pull you out of the film. The editing isn't a great feat either, often moving scenes along at a snail-like pace. The soundtrack for the film is a lot of forgettable hip hop and anthem songs to set a party vibe but this gets repetitive very quickly; the score for the film is completely non-existent.

Ryan Simpkins, who played Alex Johansen, does nothing to make you relate to her as a character; frankly Simpkins just feels like she's in the film to justify the concept and direction of the plot. Nick Kroll and Allison Tolman, who played Bob and Dawn respectively, are exceptionally flat as the film's major antagonists; the bizarre and awkward romance between these two just feels forced and poorly inserted into the script. Rob Huebel, who played Officer Chandler, is this guy who feels dressed as a cop; and yes his police brutality comedy is irrelevant but it really doesn't land in a big way in this film. Christina Offley and Jessie Ennis, who played Davida and Rachel respectively, fall into the background very swiftly when they're paired with the weak performance of Simpkins'; most annoying was how Ennis' role was purely in the film to be pushed over by Ferrell repeatedly. Rory Scovel and Cedric Yarbrough, who played Joe and Reggie respectively, these two are part of the background comedic ensemble but don't add much in terms of laughs; Scovel in particular was quite a cringeworthy role rather than comedic one. Lennon Parham and Gillian Vigman, who played Martha and Becky respectively, are just in this film to get into a fight and that's about all they bring; it gets really predictable watching these two back and forth with one another and then after they fight neither actress is used effectively. Michaela Watkins, who played Raina, is this role who enters into scenes and acts the same exact way every single time; Watkins' relationship with Mantzoukas is questionable because you don't really see the chemistry there. Steve Zissis and Jeremy Renner, who played Carl Shackler and Tommy respectively, are just laughable as the film's additional antagonists; the two were supposedly added to spice the film up and bring a bit of danger but then you have a big name like Renner who's killed off after mumbling eight lines.