Comedy at its most formulaic.
Houseguest (1995)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:19
Fresh:2
Rotten:17
Average Rating:3.3/10
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Two thugs chase Kevin Franklin -- who owes an astronomical sum of money to a loan shark -- through a Pittsburgh airport. Luckily, Kevin runs into Gary Young who's awaiting the arrival of a summer... Two thugs chase Kevin Franklin -- who owes an astronomical sum of money to a loan shark -- through a Pittsburgh airport. Luckily, Kevin runs into Gary Young who's awaiting the arrival of a summer camp friend who he hasn't seen in 25 years. Kevin immediately assumes the identity of Gary's childhood friend and must use quick double-talk to convince Gary and his family that he truly remembers their beautifully shared past. Soon, the Young family becomes deeply attached to their new houseguest... that is, until the thugs make a surprise visit and reveal that it's all been a ruse. [More]
Starring: Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Jeffrey Jones, Kim Greist
Starring: Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Jeffrey Jones, Kim Greist, Chauncey Leopardi, Paul Ben-Victor, Tony Longo, Stan Shaw, Ron Glass, Mason Adams
Director: Randall Miller
Director: Randall Miller
Reviews for Houseguest
Who decided Sinbad needed to star in a movie and what should we do to them when we find out?
Tedious and unfocused...the contrivance in this forgettable comedy is inexplicably unbearable
Turns out to be an inane fish-out-of-water comedy. Along the way it turns into a virtual McDonald's commercial, too. The fact that you can hardly tell the difference is a good clue to the movie's bad-television flavor.
Like the housepest of the title, Sinbad's character here is more annoying than amusing and before the film is over you may just wish he'd go away.
A film that lacks solid construction from the ground up, something that can't be “fixed in the editing,” I'm afraid.
In its worst moments, Houseguest becomes a struggle in which a very human comedian fights to project his personality over the director's technological muddle. But the good news is that Sinbad wins.
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