THE HONEST TRUTH ABOUT “THE HOUSE”
Starring: Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, and Jason Mantzoukas
Directed by: Andrew Jay Cohen
Rated: R
Do you want to learn how to play roulette? Then let’s head on to “The House” and teach you a thing or two. Just make sure to head on to the store to buy something as an alibi, then pass the back into the woods. The path should lead you directly to the house. With talents like Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, and Jason Mantzoukas, there is no denying that you would learn more than just roulette games. I for one enjoyed this movie, even though it received a lot of criticism for its downfall in a lot of ways. One of which is their worldwide grossing of $34 million against their $40 million budget.
In the story, Scott and Kate Johansen (Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler) turned the house of their gambling addict friend Jason Mantzoukas starring as Frank, with his permission and help of course, into a casino. A house where they made tons of cash in a matter of weeks. This wasn’t their initial intention though. All they wanted was to raise enough money for the tuition of their lovely daughter. The initial plan was to raise as much as was required for the tuition fees, then pull the plug on the casino as soon as possible. But things begin to heat up and get interesting all together, and it becomes harder to pull out. Let’s take a look at the story before reaching a verdict.
The Johansen family visit Bucknell University with their daughter, and warn her about the dangers college comes with. Alex (Ryan Simpkins), their daughter just wants to get their talk over with, and all she’s interested in is studying at her parents’ alma mater. She gets admitted, but they can’t afford to pay for her tuition. They were expecting to receive funding from the Scholarship program of the community. Unfortunately, the city councilor decides that there isn’t enough funding for the scholarship program, and would rather build a city pool with the available funds. A twist in expectations for the Johansens that would spice up the movie even more!
They try to get a loan, get Kate to take back her job, and ask for a raise at work. All fail, and they eventually go to Vegas to have a great time with their friend Frank. They were rolling it hot and winning consistently until they were jinxed by Scott who yelled at frank not to roll a seven. After trying every means possible to raise the money and failing, they finally agree to start a casino at the house of their neighbor after he continuously pestered them to. Their neighbor; Frank, played by Jason Mantzoukas, was going through a divorce with his wife for his gambling addiction.
The fun thing about the movie is that the couple was able to get the majority of the community to be discreet about the house. The house only got better and better, and it was a fun place for everyone to have fun. Things got way more interesting when the fight night was added to the casino, and this got the attention of more people to the house – and the city councilor knew nothing about it, not even the police!
Things got out of hand quickly when they cut off the middle finger of Carl and set Tommy Papouli on fire. The police found out and the city councilor confiscated their stash. Nothing was more heartbreaking than that! But just as I had the desire to get the money back, so did they! They exposed the city councilor of his dirty works and got their cash back. Happy ending!
The love for this movie might be a little more than the storyline, and I can’t deny my interest in movies Will Ferrell stars in.