House of D

HOUSE OF D (2005) *** Anton Yelchin, Tea Leoni, David Duchovny, Robin Williams, Erykah Badu, Frank Langella, Mark Margolis, Zelda Williams, Olga Sosnovska, Magali Amadei, Harold Cartier, Orlando Jones, Willie Garson, Stephen Spinella.

A Sort Of Homecoming

David Duchovny is one of my favorite contemporary actors and has been stigmatized by his iconic TV role as FBI agent Fox Mulder, believer of the incredibly unbelievable , on the late, great "THE X-FILES" and makes a gallant attempt to shrug off his alter ego for a smaller, more personal project in hopes to be taken as a serious actor capable of being versatile. In this, his big-screen directorial debut he makes a decent effort.

As an American expat artist living in Paris, Tom Warsaw (Duchovny) faces some skeletons in his closet and decides to tell his gorgeous wife Coralie (Amadei) and his son Odell (Cartier) on Odell's birthday, just what they are, in the middle of the night awakening some irate neighbors. Despite the late evening disturbance Tom begins to tell the story of how he grew up in New York City's Greenwich Village and how the age of 13 truly became his coming of age.

Flashback to 1973 and 13 year old Tommy (Yelchin, late of HEARTS IN ATLANTIS) has a lot on his plate: his forthcoming puberty blues is running parallel to the recent death of his father leaving him with his manic-depressive mother (Leoni, Mrs. Duchovny, in a competent turn) whose melancholy emotional roller-coaster and clinging vine addiction to sleeping pills only adds to Tommy's dilemma of not having any role models let alone family but does have a best friend, a mentally retarded janitor named Pappass (Williams wisely not going overboard in a remarkably restrained and decent performance) who works at the Catholic school he attends and assists in an after-school job as a meat delivery boy for a local butcher. When not palling with Pappass Tommy seeks refuge in the titular edifice that was an actual detention house for women on 10th St. and 6th Avenue where the prisoners were able to shout from their barred windows to the passersby and vice versea. It is here where Tommy encounters Lady Bernadette (soulful singer Badu in a surprisingly strong supporting turn) who counsels the young adolescent about the birds and bees when Tommy develops a crush on the young Melissa (Williams' real-life daughter Zelda, a chip off-the-old block, in a very natural film debut) who lives on the Upper East Side.

The storyline is quasi-biographical according to Duchovny – who I met at the opening day screening in New York and is as low-key and self-deprecatingly funny as you would guess from his talk-show appearances and interviews – and has the feel of a latter-day John Cheever novella (Duchovny also penned the screenplay) where the eccentric characters and colorful neighborhoods within neighborhoods come alive in a very vivid naturalistic way (Duchovny truly does capture the era with smartly chosen '70s pop/rock songs as well as the sublime production design by Lester Cohen, Ellen Lutter's period costumes that do not caricature the times and veteran cinematographer Michael Chapman's assuredly pristine cinematography. The acting overall is very good particularly the talented young Yelchin who has a very soft, trembly voice that makes it more intimate to actually LISTEN to what he says and his character may be a bit of a wise-ass but he's not a know-it-all troublemaking jerk like most teens are depicted. Williams balances his sweet-natured Pappass with just enough vulnerability without being too cloying and has some nice moments towards the end of the film. Duchovny has a deft touch especially with his actors – an almost Eastwoodian touch in the sense that he has not rushed his players but let them flesh out their roles, even the smaller ones by such wonderful veteran character actors such as Margolis as Pappass' alcoholic father, Langella as the passive/aggressive priest/instructor and Jones as a flashy pimp. His pacing is a bit rocky with some odd – choices in editing (one sequence after a school dance when Tommy returns home to his angry mother is a tad off) but otherwise is straightforward in his storytelling.

When Tom finishes his story to his family he's encouraged to return home (to give away anymore of the plot would ruin the viewing but let's say it's bittersweet) to rekindle his youth and find out just who he is.

Duchovny should be proud of this labor of love that shows he is a talented artist who has a lot to say and his film-making debut may not be grand but is definitely noteworthy for the next level of being The Artist Formerly Known As Mulder.

We struggle to grow up all our lives. Many grow old without doing the work involved in truly growing up. We mistakenly think that growing up just happens to us, when in fact that very passivity is what causes us to grow old without ever actually maturing. Growing up requires conscious personal effort. House Of D is about such a man, who in middle age, with a 13 year old son, realizes he is beginning to grow old without having grown up. As his son crosses the threshold to manhood, Tom (Duchovny) makes the decision to confront & resolve the issues that caused him to retreat into himself at 13 rather than advancing into real manhood.

I enjoy Duchovny's acting, and he handled his on screen time capably in the second part of the film. However, the establishing scenes were slightly awkward & stilted. The film only begins to show its spirit when we flash back to New York City 1973.

Anton Yelchin portrays the young Tommy, and has a staggering amount of potential to grow into as an artist. Duchovny has a great feel for directing young people, a task known to be notoriously difficult. There are also some embarrassingly terrible performances, from Robin Williams & Tea Leoni. Williams falls off the horse right at the outset of his portrayal of the 'retarded' Pappass and never manages to get back on again. It seems to be partly poor definition in the writing of the character, and partly the actor's failure to connect with & breathe life into him. This despite a clear on screen rapport between himself & Yelchin. It mars what would have otherwise been a better film. Tea Leoni's performance adds nothing to her career or to the film. It isn't a portrayal, rather a thumbnail sketch. Leoni is an actress of limited ability, who needs strong direction to deliver a capable performance. It was a mistake to have her in the film, as she too succeeds in diminishing it, delivering what comes across as a deliberately bad performance. Leoni's appearance also embarrasses because she is Duchovny's wife and one or both of them should've known better than to allow this.

I was disappointed Frank Langella, undoubtedly the best actor in the movie, had so little to do. His few scenes are wonderful. A pleasure to see Orlando Jones, albeit briefly. Erykah Badu's singing is sublime, and she delivers a strong, warm performance.

Other performances ranged from adequate to forgettable.

Most of the music in the film is decent and well placed.

Duchovny has the potential to be a fine director. This was already known to those who enjoyed the episodes of X-Files he directed. Does he expand his directing skills in House of D? Yes. He shows a real flair for directing young actors, which I had never previously suspected. Duchovny scored high with inexperienced young actors, evoking clean, impressive performances, from Yelchin in particular; but low with veterans Williams & Leoni.

The writing is wildly uneven. Inventive, clever, inspired, insightful & touching in places. At other times it fails to ring true, and some of the plot devices are frankly ludicrous. It's almost as though 2 completely different people worked on the screenplay without ever meeting or actually engaging in a collaboration. I found this a little disconcerting at times. I know Duchovny is a better than average writer, so the unevenness of the script, and the bizarre disjointed quality, had me scratching my head more than once. I wonder what the screenplay originally looked like. Did some heavy-duty editing compromise the coherence of the script?

The cinematography was awesome, whether we were looking at Paris at night or a toilet bowl full of cigarette butts. No surprises there when you realize it's the work of Michael Chapman, who has worked with Scorsese, Allen, and many others. He also worked on Duchovny's film "Evolution."

We're at an interesting stage in our psychological evolution. A quiet revolution is taking place as more & more individuals are learning to embrace a new understanding of personal responsibility. People ARE learning to "see the world a little differently" to refer to the tag line. Some have made the hurtle and are seeing, and living in a new way. A larger number of people are resisting making that leap right now. Change is rarely easy. Letting go of old, outmoded ways of seeing & doing things is hard. House Of D is the story of one human being who makes that leap. Achieving personal sovereignty is a crowning experience that many have deprived themselves of. As more of us step forward to claim this privilege of genuine personal autonomy, and society begins to noticeably shift as a result, films like House Of D will be regarded with more understanding & affection.

Duchovny could've traded on his established image & popularity, played it safe, manufactured a piece of typical Hollywood junk, and have everyone pat him on the back. He didn't and I like that about his attitude.

That's part of what's admirable about him. He's willing to take chances and make an ass of himself. He has made mistakes which would finish other actors. Yet he also has courage, intelligence, daring, originality, humor, and most of all, genuine talent, which keeps bringing us back to consider his work, and finding merit in it. Duchovny has cut his directorial teeth on an unconventional, rewarding first film.

I perceive an iconoclastic, Almodovarian streak lurking in Duchovny both as writer and director. It's there, as a delicious undercurrent running through House Of D. I'd love to see him have the confidence to express that side of himself more in the future. To thine own self be true, David.

I was fortunate enough to happen upon two free tickets to a sneak preview here in La Jolla. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. The audience I was a part of was audibly drawn into the film. The plot is completely character-driven, revolving around a very honest 13-year-old. The honesty of this character--a unique portrayal of any boy this age--was portrayed sincerely, and as such the film read as very heartfelt. The sincerity is most profoundly seen in his relationship with a developmentally disabled adult, Pappass (Robin Williams), purely for the sake of companionship and not out of sympathy or having been forced into the friendship. In a time when the phrase "that's so retarded" is so ubiquitously used as a put-down, it was refreshing to see a character created who is not at all fazed by the stigma of befriending someone who is disabled or 30 years older than himself (let alone both). Each character seemed to be written with such empathy that you could be drawn into any one of their stories, if the movie so followed those stories. To those who call this film trite, I argue that this heartfelt empathy makes it unique among mainstream films whose screenplays contain characters so generalized that the actors must create any depth for their characters.

All in all, I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend it to my friends. And to those looking for an excuse to dismiss my 9/10 vote, no I am not a David Duchovny fan. I hardly even saw 3 episodes of the X-Files. I just liked the film. :-)

Set mostly in a flashback to 1973 New York City, this is at heart not a coming of age movie but a coming to terms movie. From the opening scenes in Paris, we're set up by a voice-over narrative to expect terrible events which would change a boy's life. And, true to its word, we are delivered a series of disasters, many of which are prefigured in a short-handed kind of way. But it doesn't really matter, because you know where the film is heading, and your reaction to the last 15 minutes coming out of the flashbacks will pretty much determine whether you like this film or not. (Note that the ratings here are split pretty dramatically between very positive and very negative.) The things that are right with the film are good, sometimes very good. At the top of the "good" list is Erykah Badu's outstanding performance as a prisoner in the Women's House of Detention , an urban jail with windows over the street, who offers conversation and advice to the young protagonist. Also, the evocative period setting, which puts to shame a lot of films with many times the budget. Finally, there are a few deft touches of humor in the dialog, particularly in the early scenes of school life. The other performances are a bit more uneven. Anton Yelchin, the younger version of Duchony's character, is often winning and natural, but when real crisis hits, I didn't buy his grief and desperation. Not knowing the Robin Williams role, I cringed a bit when he first appeared on screen, but his performance is for the most part fairly restrained -- at least by Robin Williams' standards. Ducovny and wife Tea Leoni were competent but not compelling. We saw this film at a preview that featured a Q&A with Ducovny afterward. He clearly has affection for the material and, if anything, set out to make an even more modest film, budget-wise, than this. This is potentially pretty dicey plot material and could have veered severely wrong, particularly toward sloppy sentimentality. While I don't think the film entirely escaped this, it's certain a better film than, say, the dreadfully manipulative, "The Notebook". If you're not expecting too much and you can appreciate the 70's period setting, you'll probably enjoy this. If you're expecting a genius writer-director first film out of Ducovny -- you will be disappointed. Bottom line: give Ducovny some space and let's wait for his second film before delivering an real judgment on his career as writer-director.

If you asked me to write down a list of movie cliches some things on my list would include: the wise black sage the white people listen to, the kid with no father and troubled mother, a nostalgic look back at school (prep schools especially), and the mentally retarded person who is actually very wise. All of these old cliches were found in HOUSE OF D, and they lessened my enjoyment of it a great deal. I was able to see the first New York showing of David Duchovny's HOUSE OF D at the Tribeca Film Festival. I was weary of the film because it is Duchovny's first feature and he can run hot and cold as an actor. However after hearing a bit about the plot and knowing Robin Williams was in it I did have high expectations. The never ending barge of cliches, the unbelievablility of several of the events, and the equally cliched and unintelligent performance by Tea Leoni seriously hurt my enjoyment of the film. The story is told by an Tommy, an American artist (Duchovny) who has lived in Paris for the last 15 years, and for the first time is revealing his past to his wife. Until the last ten minutes, we flashback to Tommy's childhood in Greenwich Village, New York. Tommy (now played by the pleasing Anton Yelchin of HEARTS IN ATLANTIS) attends a prep school in the Villiage, works part time for as a meat delivery boy with his fourty year old best friend, the mentally slow Pappass (Williams), and lives with his chain-smoking mother (Leoni). The House of D, of the title, is the Women's House of Detention, a towering building Tommy and Pappass frequently bury their money by. Receiving little advice at home, Tommy listens to the advice of "Lady" (a fine, Erykah Badu), a prisoner there who Tommy cannot evern see. Lady gives Tommy advice on everything including dancing and how to woo a girl he likes. Pappass however doesn't like the fact Tommy has a girlfriends, and sets out to win Tommy back, a decision that bring forth an overly horrific chain of events that include robbery and death. Although he seems annoying at first, Yelchin grows on you, and eventually creates a believeable, likeable youth, who's world varies from fairy tale to horror story. Williams is playing a type of man-child, a role he could play in his sleep. Surprisingly, Williams is quite reserved and stays away from other style Dustin Hoffman in RAIN MAN and Sean Penn in I AM SAM used. At first glance Pappass could seem like a normal 40 year old, he just doesn't function as quickly as most. Although I was very happy with his choices, Williams did not seem to be having much fun with the picture, his character seemed almost too easy to play. The film also featured Frank Langella as the Reverend in charge of the school. Although he was rather funny, Duchovny made the character totally unbelievable and underwritten. Willie Garson, Stephen Spinella, and Orlando Jones all turned in small roles that seemed too small for names and talents of their size. Finally some of the events seemed unlikely, like the first sequence in which Duchovny has an afternoon bike ride in which he seemingly bike rides past the Eifel Tower, Nortre Dame, and several other French landmarks that are no where near each other. The New York setting can also switch from the Village to the upper East side in a mattter of moments. Hopefull David constructs a better script next time and is a little more exact with his direction. The story of a prisoner providing advice and bonding with someone on the outside is very clever, unfortunetly the way it was told recycled so much old material. Rating: ** (out of ****)

HOUSE OF D written & directed by David Duchovny with Anton Yelcin, Robin Williams, Tea Leoni, David Duchovny, Erykah Badu, Frank Langella, and Orlando Jones Photography by Michael Chapman Music by Geoff Zanelli Music Supervised by Hans Zimmer