[yasr_overall_rating]
After the town takes away their daughter’s college scholarship, a couple start an illegal casino in their friend’s house to make back the money.
It’s a story as old as time: a young girl loses her scholarship due to the financial finagling of a corrupt city councilman so her parents decide to set up a gambling den to pay for her tuition. That’s the premise of “The House,” Will Ferrell’s comedy vehicle; and with co-star Amy Poehler in tow (“Sisters,” “Inside Out”) and a stellar supporting cast, on paper at least, things look promising. Unfortunately, the movie itself never quite delivers.
Source: Erik Abriss via Twitter
The plot to “The House,” such as it is, revolves around Scott and Alex (Ferrell and Poehler), a married couple desperate not to let down their teenage daughter when she seems certain to miss out on attending her dream school. Having exhausted all other options, and with the clock ticking, they decide to set up an illegal casino in their best friend’s basement. Predictably, things soon spiral out of control. Cue kick-boxing soccer moms, outrageous pool parties, and dismembered mobsters.
The casino’s clientele is predominantly made up of the couple’s closest friends and neighbours, a hotchpotch of stay-at-home mums, divorcees, and bored bankers, and the carefree way in which they embrace the underground gambling scene feels a little unrealistic, particularly when you consider the abundance of online gaming sites, with operators such as omniacasino.com offering multiple variants of popular table games.
Source: Leigh Paatsch via Twitter
Although at times disjointed, there are laughs to be had: Poehler puking in a container store, a granny with road rage, and best friend Frank’s misguided attempts to woo his estranged wife. But these comic flashes are few and far between. And while Ferrell throws himself into the role with typical gusto and Poehler more than holds her own, in truth, neither is helped by a flabby script packed full of tired comedy tropes, puzzling non-sequiturs, and all too predictable pratfalls. A combination that led the Hollywood Reporter to declare the film “less-than-funny.”
That said, there are highlights: Jason Mantzoukas’s stand-out performance as the hapless Frank, the brilliantly understated Officer Chandler played by Rob Huebel, and a genuinely satisfying face-off between Ferrell and Jeremy Renner’s ‘mob boss.’ Ferrell and Poehler play well as the fish-out-of-water suburbanites plunged into the scary world of underground gambling, and Nick Kroll (“Sing,” “Sausage Party”) is eminently watchable as the unhinged, lovelorn councilor. There’s a number of enjoyable cameos from the world of comedy too – most notably and hilariously Veep’s Lennon Parham – and a brilliantly toe-curling forehead- kissing scene that you won’t soon forget.
Source: Leigh Paatsch via Twitter
But there are more gaffes than laughs, and with glaring misfires like Ferrell’s implausible aversion to numbers and the breakneck speed at which this straight-laced suburban couple devolve into wannabe gangsters, even the modest 90-minute running time begins to feel a little overlong. And with obvious nods to some of Ferrell’s earlier work, it’s easy to get nostalgic. “The House” has its moments, but it lacks the sizzling quick-fire wit of films such as “Old School” or “Anchorman” – the latter seeing Ferrell dubbed the new king of comedy by Empire Online.
But with some stand-out performances and genuinely funny moments, it’s certainly not the worst comedy you’ll see this year. Fine for a night of mindless fun, but instantly forgettable, and with one too many jokes landing short of the mark, in this instance at least, “The House” doesn’t always win.
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