The movie never gels. It lies there, flat and unconvincing, with little spurts of florid melodrama.
House of D (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:99
Fresh:10
Rotten:89
Average Rating:3.8/10
Consensus: A sincere but inept coming of age story.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: A comical and touching portrait of a boy’s coming of age in 1970s Greenwich Village, Lions Gate Films’ HOUSE OF D is the feature film writing and directing debut of actor David Duchovny, and stars... A comical and touching portrait of a boy’s coming of age in 1970s Greenwich Village, Lions Gate Films’ HOUSE OF D is the feature film writing and directing debut of actor David Duchovny, and stars Anton Yelchin, Téa Leoni, David Duchovny, Robin Williams, Erykah Badu and Frank Langella. The year is 1973, and thirteen-year-old Tommy Warshaw (Anton Yelchin) is on the brink of becoming a man. While his bereaved single mother (Téa Leoni) continues to mourn the death of his father, Tommy escapes his own grief by causing trouble at school and making afternoon meat deliveries with his best friend Pappas (Robin Williams), a slow-witted janitor. Hoping to win the heart of Melissa (Zelda Williams), a precocious uptown girl, Tommy seeks advice and guidance from Lady (Erykah Badu), a prostitute incarcerated in the infamous Greenwich Village Women’s House of Detention. But just as Tommy enjoys his first taste of love, he is faced with an unexpected tragedy that will radically alter the course of his life – and compel the adult Tom Warshaw (David Duchovny), thirty years later, to revisit his unfinished past… Vividly capturing the spirit of youth in all its giddiness and intensity, HOUSE OF D examines with humor and pathos the harrowing journey every young boy must take into adulthood. Sensitively directed and bolstered by affectionate portrayals from a talented cast, it is a winning, hopeful story about overcoming loss and coming to terms with one’s past. © -- Lions Gate Films [More]
Starring: Robin Williams, Anton Yelchin, Tea Leoni, David Duchovny
Starring: Robin Williams, Anton Yelchin, Tea Leoni, David Duchovny, Erykah Badu, Orlando Jones, Stephen Spinella, Frank Langella, Michael Chapman, Mark Margolis, Alice Drummond, Willie Garson
Director: David Duchovny
Director: David Duchovny
Screenwriter: David Duchovny
Producer: Richard B. Lewis, Bob Yari, Jane Rosenthal
Composer: Geoff Zanelli
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for House of D
It's like someone's sad idea of what a heartwarming drama about adolescence should be.
House of D is the kind of movie that particularly makes me cringe, because it has such a shameless desire to please.
Duchovny is in big trouble every frame of the way. His characters ring false, his scenes seem improperly motivated in a glaring way, and his distasteful obsession with imagery of unflushed cigarette butts bobbing in a toilet is beyond inexplicable.
The film never sidesteps the puddles of self-indulgence that soil many feature-length directorial debuts, particularly those of an autobiographical nature.
What should be a 10-minute anecdote turns into a sluggish and overly sentimental tale that won't hold the interest of anyone outside Duchovny's immediate family.
A little more literary than lifelike, House of D is a story that feels too pat, and too perfect, for its own good.
Less successful with these sentimentally embroidered holy fools and fairy-tale damsels than with its nicely drawn relationship between Tommy and Melissa.
A heartfelt, if wildly uneven, character piece. When even Robin Williams seems vaguely embarrassed ... it should be taken as a clear sign to throttle back on the sentiment.
This sort of tommyrot might make you cry, but so would getting smacked in the face with a bag of onions, which is what watching the movie is like.
Although Williams' performance is painful to watch, the bigger problem is the role he serves in the story as a whole.
Every scene, every minute -- practically every shot -- is utterly, relentlessly unbelievable.
It's a heartfelt production, and a tough one to kick around, but to recommend it on intentions alone would be making many innocent people suffer.
Duchovny hoped to make his viewers laugh and cry. He succeeded all right, but for all the wrong reasons.
The 'D' in the title indicates not just its would-be auteur's name, but also the grade the movie deserves.
Faltering vanity production that's riddled with trite cliches and utterly, profoundly predictable.
'House of D' felt rushed to me, and none of its elements seemed fully developed.
Latest News for House of D
April 26, 2005:
Duchovny Tells a "Secret"
The Hollywood Reporter brings news of former "X-Files" agent David Duchovny's next big-screen project. The actor will take the lead role in Vincent Perez's "The... More...
April 11, 2005:
There's a Whole Lot of Robin Williams on the Horizon
More...
April 06, 2005:
Former Dracula to Play Superman's Boss
Thanks to the unexpected mid-season success of the Fox TV series "House," actor Hugh Laurie has been forced to give up the plum role of Perry White in Bryan Singer's... More...
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