Prolabas Deeper than the descriptions

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Rodrigo Amaro I remember Spielberg quoting something that goes something like this: "Everything's already filmed, there's nothing much to do nowadays in terms of film". Regardless if I quote him rightly or not, what's he saying is quite right. There's no stories left to tell anymore, and I add this, if there is maybe the studios are not interested in developing, or writers are not selling their materials the way it should be, they always have to alter something. What's "House of D." has to do with this statement? Well, it's a film that looks, sounds and resonates as something already made far too many times before. So, here's another coming of age flick with a good cast, thoughtful messages to present, heavily dosed with corny moments.Directing and acting in this, David Duchovny begins his story with his character, a young musician living in Paris, telling stories of his youth (now played by Anton Yelchin) and his friendship with a mental disabled man (Robin Williams, wait a minute. "Jack" again? That was better though), and the many things that occupies a boy's mind and body when he reaches the adolescence. No surprises, you can guess all sorts of problems he'll face here. First love, friendship tested, disagreements in the family because the boy's growing up, etc. All of that exists in so many (and better!) flicks that the only new pleasure in seeing "House of D." is some of the performances and some of the unreal situations presented.Audiences can enjoy this and see much more than just a simple film? Sure, they can. There's valuable life lessons in all what happens with the main character when young, that made him what he is in the future, through long talks with a woman in a penitentiary (Erykah Badu), best moments of the film where she teaches many things about life. There's plenty of cute and pleasant moments enriched with a potent and wonderful soundtrack (the highest point of the film is when Allman Brothers Band's "Melissa" starts to play, Yelchin's character selected it to dance with a crush of his named...Melissa!) but there isn't much life in this. The clichés are wasted, I've seen it enough times. If you haven't it, of course you'll enjoy it more than I did and maybe call it one of the greatest films ever made, thinking why it wasn't so much of a hit. Answer: because of everything I've said.If "House of D." works with some efficiency is because of Anton Yelchin, who carries the film with a certain innocence, rare to find these days, and some aspects that makes us remind of ourselves in a distant part of our lives. Duchovny, Frank Langella, Badu and Téa Leoni have all good roles, they make of this something more than decent. The wrong note comes to Yelchin's big partner that behaves like a kid Robin Williams, with wrong facial expressions/excessive make up to look younger. He's quite forgettable here despite having some good scenes.It's something good but never great. 6/10

slake09 An American boy goes to Paris after his mother commits suicide, becomes and artist and then discovers himself and returns to the States so he can make things right with his former friends.I have to think that the people who are rating this movie so highly are all X-Files fans, even though there are no aliens or serial killers in it. Don't be fooled, this movie blows chunks.The story is incoherent, with little or no explanation of what people are doing or why. When you do get an explanation, it doesn't fit the story that went before it. What it does is bore you. For all the acting talent in the film, it just isn't interesting. I spent the whole movie wondering when sex-addict Duchovny was going to bang someone. Maybe he was doing it behind the scenes; they should have filmed that instead.What comes across is a story of a self-obsessed artist worrying about minor incidents in his life and wanting to make them right somehow - even though they didn't seem that wrong to begin with. There aren't any particularly interesting or shocking revelations, despite the mention of a big secret in the first few minutes. It's just a guy thinking that his life is as interesting to you as it is to him. It's not.I saw in the trivia that Duchovny claims he wrote the script in a week, that's entirely believable. The guy can act, there's no doubt, but writing and directing are obviously beyond his talents.Why Hollywood keeps greenlighting these self-discovery stories is beyond me. I discover myself in the shower every morning but I don't bother making a movie about it. Mine would probably be better than this one, though; at least there would be some nudity.

oodus347 They say David Duchovny took six days to write the script for this movie. That sounds about right.This movie is one of the worst films I've ever seen and I've seen Gigli. It's not as bad as Gigli, but that's like saying Saddam Hussein wasn't as bad as Adolf Hitler.Tom Warshaw has been living in France with his French wife and 13-year old son. He has been pretending to be French all this time. He reveals to his wife that he is actually American. For some reason, this comes as an earth-shattering reveal for her, despite the fact that she always commented on her husband's American accent. Also, their son - remember, he was born in France and never knew his father was American - speaks perfect American English without a hint of French accent. That's just one of several huge plot holes in this movie.The main bulk of the movie is a flashback to Tommy's youth in New York City during the 1970's, as he explains to his wife why he has been hiding in France. His best friend as a boy was Pappas, a retarded adult played terribly by Robin Williams. I assume Duchovny thinks that "retarded" is someone who is just sort of dumb, because Pappas comes off only mildly slow at times, while other times he comes off as just Robin Williams. Yes, Williams actually fits in his tired improv schtick although he is supposed to play a person who is mentally slow.Tommy's mother, played by Duchovny's wife Tea Leoni, is a pill-popping nurse who is distraught over the recent death of her husband. Leoni does a good job, but she mainly just smokes a lot and yells at Tommy for things that don't seem to be too important. The script didn't give her much to work with. Tommy also befriends a lady (whom he calls "Lady") who is in prison and offers him advice through her jail window (this house of detention is called "House of D" for short, thus the title). Tommy has no qualms yelling his personal problems out loud on a city street so this incarcerated felon can offer him advice, and he does so many times without care.I don't want to bore you with the entire summary of the movie, but plot holes are abound in this film that tries way too hard to be touching but comes off as, well, bad. Real bad. Real real bad. Near the end of this train wreck, the script gets cornier and cornier and ends with a laughably crappy ending.Critics tore "House of D" apart and rightfully so. I can't believe some people actually like this movie. It is a painful film to sit through and I felt weak afterwards - not from emotion, but from how terrible it was.

jpschapira Rule: No Robin Williams film is bad. Now we can begin talking about "House of D", the film written and directed by David Duchovny about a man reviving his past so he can find himself. This is Tommy, in the skin of Duchovny as an older man and in that of Anton Yelchin as a young boy. The plot line the director has created is not what we could call original; it's what we know as refreshing.In one of New York's many neighborhoods Tommy spends time with his best friend Pappas (Robin Williams), a retarded man who works as a janitor in Tommy's school. "Pap-ass", Tommy calls him, and of course the man calls the boy "Tom-ass". They both deliver food and play baseball with the kids of the different schools.In his first full-length script, Duchovny experiments with adolescent love and friendship in his own way, as he puts the main characters through a test. What the actor writes and directs seems to be very personal, very urgent for some reason. The film looks like if it was done in a hurry; the cinematography is too simple, the edition is too forced.Going back to the script, there are lots of things the viewer could ask Duchovny, like the speech from the beginning of the movie, which is pretty weird; like the title reference, which we understand, but we don't see it as crucial to the story as it is supposed to be for Yelchin's character. The story itself has something out of place; like if it had no reason of being (you'll see what I mean). The figure of the mother, played passionately by Tea Leoni, doesn't seem to fit completely.But the movie is watch able and moving at times and there are other things we find inspiring between the silly moments of the screenplay. What is silly sometimes becomes incredibly funny; mostly the material Robin Williams has to deal with, which lies in a fine line between comedy and drama. I may sound stupid but he actually looks like a retarded individual and he shines eventually throughout the film and we are as grateful as ever.Erykah Badu has one of the most powerful characters I've seen in a long time and her performance is equally powerful. And Alton Yelchin is one in a million. His voice is so peculiar, his manners are so carefully measured, the film lies on his shoulders and he doesn't care. This is an actor so talented that he hasn't turned twenty and you can trust him a whole movie.Duchovny doesn't even act in the film, but he shouldn't because this project means for him as a director; as a storyteller. And it's difficult to classify his piece: full of power but difficult to understand, exciting but incomplete. I had a lot of expectations with "House of D"; in the end most of them were fulfilled, but I'm sure next time around Duchovny will find something really worthy inside his house and we will be amazed. Rule: No Robin Williams film is bad.