Studio: Lions Gate Films

Rating: 3/5

Summary

House of D is written and directed by David Duchovny, who also plays a secondary role as the grown up persona of the main protagonist, Tommy Warshaw (Anton Yelchin). This is a coming of age story about a kid in Greenwich, New York, who has a pretty rough time, especially the three or so weeks around his thirteenth birthday.

It starts out with the grown up Tom, living in Paris, an artist with an estranged wife and son who is turning thirteen. He comes home, late as always, to a disappointed wife Coralie (Magali Amadei) and his sleeping son Odell (Harold Cartier).

He has a story to tell. A great secret. Why he came to France and assumed a new life. We go back in time to 1973, when most of the movie takes place. Tommy has a single parent, his mother Katherine (Téa Leoni), a nurse, a heavy smoker, and a pill addict.

Tommy has a friend, the retarded Pappass (Robin Williams). They spend their time doing kid things. Sneaking into R-rated movies (easier with Pappass being the “adult”). Working delivering meat and saving the tips to buy their dream bicycle.

Tommy attends Catholic boys school where Pappass also works as an assistant janitor. There’s a girl that Tommy likes, Melissa (Zelda Williams), and who likes him in return. She goes to a Catholic girls school.

And then there is the Lady (Erykah Badu). Tommy and Pappass hide their money at the foot of the House of Detention for Women in New York. It’s a prison in the middle of the city and people can walk up and talk to the inmates.

One day a woman (whom Tommy refers to as Lady) talks to him and gives him advice. Not the greatest advice perhaps but she gives Tommy confidence to pursue Melissa. Unfortunately Tommy’s courtship of Melissa makes Pappass jealous causing him to do something bad and Tommy’s life just crashes over the course of a day.

So Tommy runs away to France where he lives a new life. The last 15 minutes of the movie involve Tom going back to New York to exorcise his inner demons. And he does and he can finally be the father and husband that he should be. End of movie.

Review

I tried to watch this once and it was awfully boring so I stopped. This time I was in a more receptive mood so I was able to watch the whole thing. And it is a pretty nice movie. Very character driven and dramatic. It’s mostly man versus himself theme.

Overall it’s a serious movie and fairly well told story. It’s not for everybody I do think you need to want to see this kind of movie. I’d recommend it.

Extras

Building the House of D (11 min) – background and making of.

All Access Festival Pass (14 min) – Q&A session with by David Duchovny.

The Old Neighborhood (3-1/2 min) – Shooting in New York.

Alternate Ending (50 seconds)

Deleted Scenes – 4 scenes. The second is interesting. It’s a five minute break in the middle of the movie where we go back to present day France and Tom converses with his wife. About half of it was moved to the end and the rest deleted. I thought it was neat how editing changes the conversation from one that was done when half the story was told to one where the wife has heard the whole story.