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House of D

EMAILPRINTLions Gate Films Inc.

House of D reviews
33
7.0 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
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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)

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...

70

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.

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63

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Steeped in pitch-perfect nostalgia and propelled by equal doses of comedy and tragedy.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Though charming at times, just misses, due to a contrived story.

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50

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.

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50

Variety David Rooney

David Duchovny scores considerably higher as director than as screenwriter.

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50

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.

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50

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Sappy and improbable.

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50

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

The good news is that Duchovny has an undeniable feel for this medium, and a fine rapport with actors.

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50

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The film looks and feels authentic, but Duchovny has powered his undeniably personal journey with a counterfeit heart.

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50

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.

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50

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

David Duchovny delivers a clearly heartfelt but terminally mawkish and awkward directorial debut in House of D.

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42

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

An overly picaresque first feature written and directed by David Duchovny, who also co-stars.

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40

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.

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40

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.

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40

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.

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40

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Forgettable coming-of-age story.

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40

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

Here's an interesting surprise: Dour, dry Duchovny's directorial debut is more weepy than creepy.

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38

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

A bunch of scenes in need of a tighter narrative and, more importantly, a raison d'être.

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38

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.

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38

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

All the characters are writ in broad strokes, making it impossible to sympathize with, much less relate to, anyone.

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38

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

House of D, is like the kind of sticky greeting card you'd find on CBS some Sunday nights.

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38

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.

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38

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.

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30

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The burden of the story, which is maudlin and entirely unbelievable, weighs down even the more credible performances.

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30

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.

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25

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.

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25

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

All in all, it's hard to dispute that House of D declares its own worth on arrival.

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25

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.

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20

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

D is for Dreadful. And Duchovny.

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12

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.

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10

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.

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