Our House (Duplex) DVD Review:

Alex (Stiller) and Nancy (Barrymore) thought they had found their ideal home. This idyllic duplex in Brooklyn had everything they were looking for and it would finally give Alex the peace and quiet he needed to finish his novel. The only downside was that the upstairs apartment had a tenant, a sweet old lady called Mrs. Connelly (Essel). Not thinking this would be a problem, Alex and Nancy bought the place and moved in straight away. That’s when the trouble started as the sweet little old lady wasn’t sweet at all.

A neighbour from hell can lead the way to all types of frustrations and confrontations but can it sustain a comedic narrative for an entire movie? In Our House the answer is no.

The film starts off well enough, introducing the lead characters and the sweet little old lady from upstairs. The laughs come steadily as Mrs Connelly reveals her true nature and you can sympathise and laugh at what Alex and Nancy are going through. The problem is that the jokes about loud TVs, constantly knocking on the door and endless errands start to wear abit thin so the filmmakers try and introduce a darker comedic element that just doesn’t suit the two leading players. You just can’t imagine either Ben Stiller’s or Drew Barrymore’s characters restoring to the extremes they go to, to eradicate Mrs Connelly from their lives.

The cast do their best with the mishmashed script. Ben Stiller is a talented comedic actor but this role isn’t the most challenging of his career. He seems to be on autopilot throughout and could be any number of characters he has played in the past. Drew Barrymore is fine as Nancy but the role never really pushes her talents even if she is still as engaging as ever. There is also descent support from Robert Wisdom, Justin Therox, James Remar and Wallace Shawn in smaller roles.

It is Eileen Essel that steals the show as the tenant from hell, Mrs Connelly. She epitomises everything that young people find frustrating about old people and she plays it superbly. From the constant disproval and interfering to the “they always know best” delusions that all old people have, this really captures an atypical view of the elderly for the younger generation.

Our House tries too hard to be a dark comedy after starting so lightly that it loses what momentum it created in the first two acts. This is surprising when you realise that Danny DeVito is the director because anyone who has seen “The War of the Roses” or “Throw Mama from the Train” will know that he can handle this kind of material. What we end up with is a very average comedy that tries too hard to make you believe that these characters could even contemplate such devious acts.

Star Rating = * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good. Danny DeVito’s dark comedy looks very sharp and crystal clear. The sound quality is also good, with a strong emphasis on the character dialogue, as used expect from a comedy movie.

BONUS FEATURES

Behind-the-Scenes Special (4.01 mins)

B-Roll footage from the fiery finale of the movie. Here we see director Danny DeVito at work with mini-interviews with Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller and Eileen Essel.

Deleted Scenes (3.03 mins)

Three deleted scenes entitled “Mrs Connelly pays the Rent”, “Mrs Connelly and Alex take a walk” and “Coop reads from his novel”. With no commentary track or introduction, we don’t know why they decent scenes were cut.

OVERALL

A very average movie receives a very poor DVD treatment. The bonus features are virtually non-existent; with an uneventful B-Roll footage featurette and three lack-lustre deleted scenes with could have done with a commentary track to explain why they were cut. This is a very poor effort by Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Miramax, even if the film isn’t that good.

DVD Star Rating = *

Jamie Kelwick

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