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House of D
EMAILPRINTLions Gate Films Inc.
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: David Duchovny
Directed by: David Duchovny
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 15, 2005
DVD: October 4, 2005
Running Time: 97 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for sexual and drug references, thematic elements and language
Starring Anton Yelchin, Téa Leoni, David Duchovny, Robin Williams, Erykah Badu, Magali Amadei, Harold Cartier, and Mark Margolis
A comical and touching story of a man looking back at his childhood in 1970s Greenwich Village. Vividly capturing the spirit of youth in all its joy and heartbreak, House of D examines with humor and pathos a boy's harrowing coming of age and the manner in which it defines his adulthood. (Lions Gate Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A film that takes a steadfastly gentle look at some of life's harshest moments while not overlooking its joys, House of D deserves a chance to find an audience.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
Steeped in pitch-perfect nostalgia and propelled by equal doses of comedy and tragedy.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Though charming at times, just misses, due to a contrived story.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A heartfelt, '70s-era coming-of-age story with a prologue and epilogue set in the present day, marks the filmmaking debut of actor David Duchovny, who also wrote the symbol-studded screenplay.
Read Full Review >Variety David Rooney
David Duchovny scores considerably higher as director than as screenwriter.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
David Duchovny’s debut as a writer-director puts little flesh on the bones of the roguish tricks he got up to as a lad in Greenwich Village in the 1970s.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
The good news is that Duchovny has an undeniable feel for this medium, and a fine rapport with actors.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The film looks and feels authentic, but Duchovny has powered his undeniably personal journey with a counterfeit heart.
Read Full Review >Premiere Peter Debruge
Duchovny bookends his story with a modern-day framing device that takes all that has gone so well until this point and turns it cloyingly sentimental.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
David Duchovny delivers a clearly heartfelt but terminally mawkish and awkward directorial debut in House of D.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
An overly picaresque first feature written and directed by David Duchovny, who also co-stars.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
House Of D never feels honest, but when Duchovny consciously tries to score sentiment points, the strain is more than the film can handle.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The war between highly specific coming-of-age angst and icky-sticky overcoming-adversity cliches eventually brings the whole thing down.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
A little more literary than lifelike, House of D is a story that feels too pat, and too perfect, for its own good.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
Here's an interesting surprise: Dour, dry Duchovny's directorial debut is more weepy than creepy.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
A bunch of scenes in need of a tighter narrative and, more importantly, a raison d'être.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
House of D is the kind of movie that particularly makes me cringe, because it has such a shameless desire to please; like Uriah Heep, it bows and scrapes and wipes its sweaty palm on its trouser leg, and also like Uriah Heep, it privately thinks it is superior.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
All the characters are writ in broad strokes, making it impossible to sympathize with, much less relate to, anyone.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
House of D, is like the kind of sticky greeting card you'd find on CBS some Sunday nights.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
The movie tries to be both comical and touching, as befitting the coming-of-age genre. But it feels forced, derivative and sometimes sappily sentimental.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
That someone as smart as Duchovny would get bogged down in such predictable treacle is a mystery worthy of investigation by Scully and Mulder.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
The burden of the story, which is maudlin and entirely unbelievable, weighs down even the more credible performances.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
Marred by a rambling voice-over at one end and a pat therapeutic resolution on the other, the film has a nice half-hour patch somewhere in the middle.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
House of D, arrives in theaters this week, after debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival last year. I'm sorry to report it's the opposite of impressive.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
All in all, it's hard to dispute that House of D declares its own worth on arrival.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
As a director, 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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt
The fatal flaw in David Duchovny's big-screen directorial debut, House of D, is not Robin Williams as a retarded janitor. It's David Duchovny, the man who chose to cast Robin Williams as a retarded janitor.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Everyone in the film seems to be in solitary, thanks to Mr. Duchovny's stultifying style. If there was a single moment of spontaneity, it escaped me. Ditto for frivolity, though bogus poetry abounds.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Pat C. gave it a4:
A good story, perhaps a very good story, but poorly told, perhaps very poorly told.
bill c. gave it a3:
Even giving it a three is generous. I wanted to like this, the talent is there, the basic story could make a good film.It's just told in a matter that is slow,dis-jointed and uninteresting.
camden l gave it a7:
David duchovney is impressive as a writer/director, but his acting holds this film back.
Anette M. gave it a10:
This movie is one of the best I've ever seen. It has heart and feelings in it. I really enjoyed watching this movie. I'm impressed of David Duchovny's work and I'm looking forward to his new projects.
Mark B. gave it a3:
How on earth does the same movie manage to come across as so heartfelt and so phony at the same time? Sensitive coming-of-age sagas are notoriously difficult to pull off anyway, and first-time writer/director David Duchovny does himself no good to attempt one: his casting of Anton Yelchin as Tommy further renders Duchovny's self-imposed task even more futile because the kid sounds like he's getting ready to do a night of Borscht Belt standup every time he opens his mouth. The moviegoers and critics who unjustly slammed Tea Leoni's honest portrayal of a very complex character in James L. Brooks' Spanglish will find plenty more to gnaw away at here; there's something really creepy not only in Duchovny's casting of his own wife to play Tommy's mother but having the lad spend his nights under his bed and including two (!!) scenes in which she interrupts him in the shower. (There's a controversial issue involving Leoni's character that's been a big headline news item and the partial subject of some recent high-profile movies, but rest assured that House of D isn't going to build the audience necessary to get its treatment of it any op-ed space whatsoever.) Even allowing for the fact that House of D deals with adolescence, there's enough gratuitous and tiresome sex talk in this PG-13 to rival any Porky's movie; what ultimately saves this film from Razzie status are good supporting performances by Frank Langella, Robin Williams (in a difficult role he pulls off with total sincerity but an absolute lack of sentimentality)...and, yes, Duchovny himself as the adult Tommy. Even better is singer Erykah Badu who, restyling her trademark big hair, plays a women's prison inmate and mentor to Tommy who makes me wonder if the only thing MY childhood really lacked was or wasn't a wise and witty Black female convict to shout Life Lessons to me from a high window. It's difficult to completely dislike any movie that so clearly preaches the importance of treating one another with kindness and compassion, but in words Duchovny will certainly understand, "The truth is out there...but it sure ain't here."
Philip Z. gave it a6:
House of D is clearly a labor of love for director David Duchovny. It's a film with a lot of heart and that's what caused me to overlook its many flaws. Robin Williams' performance has been unjustly panned, I thought it was endearing. The story it tells has been told many times and the way its told isn't terribly original but it is still pleasant enough to make it enjoyable.
Justice T. gave it a7:
When someone as iconic as Mr. Duchovny steps behind the camera and shoots the picture they wrote, there is always a different level of expectation. Now step away from the man who you have come to know and treat this as a film from an unknown quantity. You will be better served. The movie brought so many memories to the surface that I appreciated, I think I may be more willing to look beyond its largest failings - its tendency towards quick resolution whether it be in the present or the past and its complete failure at the dialogue for the adults in the movie. I am not offended when a writer or director uses cliches to success. Not only did I feel thirteen all over again, I felt like I was watching a film made during the 70s. The coloring, the dialogue of the children, the timely and pointed references. And, yes, I got caught up in the drama because I was allowed to laugh at the realities. If you love Independant film, you will appreciate this. If you can't wait for Ashton Kutcher's next film, go see some billion dollar movie that the studios hope you will want a sequel to. The House Of D was not made for you.
