L'intruso

The last time I saw Dennis Quaid put on his evil grimaces and psychopathic stare was in "Beneath the Darkness" in 2011. That was a rather weak and derivative B-movie thriller, and to be entirely honest, so is this "The Intruder". But hey, Quaid can surely portray a menacing and downright terrifying psycho! His performance is pretty much the sole reason to check out this otherwise clichéd and predictable thriller. Newlyweds Scott and Annie find their dream house an hour and a half outside of San Francisco, but original owner Charlie Peck obviously has difficulties leaving his previous property behind. You know how this goes further: at first, Charlie popping up every five seconds is just a nuisance, but he gradually becomes more intrusive and scarier. Add to this the typically overused sub plots and stereotype characters, like the young couple themselves going through marital issues, the obnoxious best friend becoming too curious, grim secrets from Charlie's past coming to the surface, etc. It's more than okay to watch once, but it will also be soon forgotten again.

The intruder is your typical thriller centred around characters that are exposed to a mentally unstable individual who slowly but surely is out to get them. What really saves this movie is Dennis Quaid's performance, his character seems to have conviction and even though he plays the antagonist, he carries the movie from start to finish.

The protagonists are a mixed bag of stereotypical characters, Meagan Good's character seems to be completely oblivious to Quaid's character's ulterior motives even though they are clear as daylight, and her husband played by Michael Ealy is indecisive and even shady in some aspects, only to go against his own character development at the end of the movie.

Thus it becomes increasingly difficult to root for the supposed protagonists and you kind of begin to side with Quaid's character because he looks like he actually has fun with his on-screen performance.

It is a very predictable and formulaic genre-piece which doesn't have the needed twist in it to separate itself from the flock. The only "twist" if one could call it that, is seeing veteran actor Dennis Quaid take on a role that we rarely ever see him in, and he does a very competent job carrying this movie the whole way through.

Of course this was not supposed to be a masterpiece. Yes it's predictable but it had its moments. It's a silly fun movie which keeps you on your seat. I had a good time and 2 extra stars just for Dennis quaid. He gave a crazy fun performance which made me and other audience feel uncomfortable at certain times. Especially the shower scene in bathroom, that's just pure gold. It's so uncomfortable that you'll just laugh. Overall its a fun movie to watch with your friends in a weekend.

I'm being generous with a 5/10 only for Dennis Quaid. He's a damn good actor and fit as a fiddle. But his performance couldn't save the film when the Meagan's character is very dumb right from the writer's desk looks like. Ambiance is also ruined by her daftness which makes the hip hop tunes during the sex scenes more laughable. Can't black actors have intercourse without a rom com suited song LOL. Some people can sit through this (fans of Michael and Meagan ) and fans of acting will be very disappointed by the end.

In San Francisco, the couple Scott (Michael Ealy) and Annie (Meagan Good) are happily married. When Scott is promoted in his job, Annie asks him to move to Napa Valley to raise a family with children of their own. They negotiate and buy the old house that belongs to the structural engineer and widower Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid). But soon Scott notes that Charlie is always in his real estate and is hitting on Annie and he decides to investigate with his friend Mike (Joseph Sikora) who Charlie is.

"The Intruder" is a predictable thriller full of clichés. It is amazing but the viewer foresees the next scenes. The cast is only reasonable; Dennis Quaid is too old for the role and Meagan Good´s character Annie is too naive. The best part of the film is the location. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Hóspede Indesejado" ("Unwanted Guest")