The House: Blu-ray Review
“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the title I reviewed. The opinions I share are my own.”
The Movie:
When Scott and Kate Johansen’s daughter gets into the college of her dreams it’s cause for celebration. That is, until Scott and Kate (Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler) learn that the scholarship they were counting on didn’t come through, and they’re now on the hook for tuition they can’t begin to afford. With the help of their friend and neighbor Frank (Jason Mantzoukas)—also in need of a major payday—they decide to open an illegal casino in his suburban house, risking everything together on a Vegas-style bacchanal where money flows, inhibitions are checked at the door, and all bets are off.
The film is your usual Ferrell comedy. I say “usual” because his films all seem to have similar tones where the overall story is in place but every other scene seems improvised. For the most part I think that it works and we’ve gotten some really hilarious moments out of it but there are times where it makes the movie fall flat. In this case it’s split down the middle as far as gags and jokes that worked and the majority of the ones that hit came from the supporting cast. Frankly, I thought the supporting cast knocked it out of the park here and saved the movie altogether. The film is entertaining but I feel like it lacked structure which really hurt it. If you’re in the mood for a silly comedy that you don’t have to think too much about then this is definitely one to check out. If you’re looking for a knee slapper of a film the n you may be disappointed. 6/10
Special Features:
The House: Playing with a Loaded Deck – The usual Behind The Scenes feature with cast and crew interviews and film clips.
If You Build the House, They Will Come – A nice feature that takes a look at how they created the casino set in the film.
Deleted Scenes – Around 11 scenes here that are decent to watch but don’t offer much more than that.
Extended/Alternate Scenes -This is interesting. There are so many scenes here that its pretty much an alternate version of the film.
Gag Reel – A collection of line flubs, missed cues and the cast just goofing off.
Line-O-Ramas – Another group of alternate takes/bloopers.
