The House arrives on our screens amidst stories of a troubled production, release delays, and critics embargoes. It isn’t the disaster you might expect bearing that in mind, and is certainly no worse than most Will Ferrell comedies, but it also isn’t great.
Ferrell stars alongside Amy Poehler as Scott and Kate Johansen, a couple of idiots who didn’t seem to realise they needed to save in order for their daughter Alex (Ryan Simpkins) to go to university. Desperate for cash, they agree to set up an illegal casino with their friend Frank (Jason Mantzoukas).
There are a lot of funny performers in the supporting cast – Rob Huebel, Allison Tolman, Lennon Parham as well as Mantzoukas – but you can’t just point a camera at those people and expect comedy gold. There were two good laughs for me, and a few low-key chuckles but, all in all; Brendan O’Brien and Andrew Jay Cohen’s script is not funny enough to maintain even the short 88 minute run time. Cohen also directs and the end result is mostly a workmanlike effort that can just about be counted as a time passer.
Rating: 5 out of 10