And finally went to see the new Will Ferrell / Amy Poehler comedy The House. When Ferrel and Poehler’s daughter gets into college and they lose the scholarship they were relying on, they decide to open a casino (with the help of the funny Jason Mantzoukas) in their home to earn tuition that way.
Not a bad premise for a comedy and there are moments of humor early on (and late) in the flick. But generally speaking the film just feels stretched to fulfill the necessary time required for a theatrical release. There’s a bunch of subplots that keep getting added to the overall story that really does feel like they are stretching for time. And since they also spend waaaay too much time wasting time in the home casino and then adding in a plot about a corrupt town councilman and another one about real gangsters who show up, there’s just too much padding. Could have worked if I laughed more, but I did not.
I shouldn’t be surprised another Will Ferrell movie just falls flat. I think the guy doesn’t know what made him popular and keeps floundering around and sometimes getting lucky. I just wish he didn’t drag Amy Poehler into this (someone who also doesn’t always seem to know what makes her funny).
It’s a pretty bad comedy. One that doesn’t cause too much harm on its road to being forgotten.
Score: 61