La casa dei sogni

An absolutely ironic film, the architect makes you burst into laughter with exquisitely caricatured characters that act a contemporary and very light version of Madame Bovary. This film will not win an Oscar nor will it be in the selection of best films of the decade, but it is always good to spend an afternoon laughing at corny scenes and stereotyped discourses. The architect ironizes the imposture of the current petty bourgeoisie with its appetite for high culture. The musical reference to A homme et une femme de Lelouch is just one of the winks that this gentle comedy gives to French cinema.

'The Architect' never reaches the level of either drama or comedy as its sit-com story unfolds with the zest of a soggy blueprint. The plot relates how a pair of prosperous married suburbanites try to paper over their differences by commissioning a pretentious avant-garde architect to design their dream house. In the real world, a village idiot would require only a brief minute with this insufferable narcissist before dismissing him as a fraud. Worse yet, the credulous couple are never fleshed out to anything more substantial than cardboard cut-outs, and their dilemmas become increasingly far-fetched as the film proceeds.

It's tough to watch Parker Posey trudging through this humorless sludge when she's created so many idiosyncratic characters from unconventional material. At this point in her career, she seems better suited for the role of a scheming seductress, than that of an artsy airhead housewife in a lame comedy. The biggest mystery of 'The Architect' is how this sputtering slapstick-sophisticated hybrid vehicle ever got green-lighted.

First, the bad (to get that out of the way). The characters in this movie are very cliché. Most people in real life are a combination of characteristics (say, creative and practical), not so these people. They are extreme.

Also - the ending of this movie is quite unsatisfying. I kept expecting....more. There was this build up, build up, build up....and then...fizzle, as though the writer just wanted to be "done with it all."

Now, the good! I laughed! This movie is weird and quirky (with the look, feel and sound of an independent film)..and FUNNY! However, it's not funny in the usual slap-sticky, juvenile or vulgar way that so many comedies TRY to be funny these days. It's actually funny in an INTELLIGENT way - imagine that!

In fact, the movie has a more "adult" feel then most current movies which seem geared for the under 25 age group. (I always wondered what happened to Parker Posey)!

In the movie, the couple hires an architect to design their new waterfront home. Bear in mind, the couple's marriage seems fine (mostly, except you do see some "handwriting on the wall indicating lingering problems) Until....well, THE ARCHITECT enters into their lives.

The architect is an odd off-beat character who has plenty of his OWN artistic ideas (thereby raising the cost of the project every time he opens his mouth). The wife, in the movie, is enthralled. Her more practical husband? Not so much, thus setting the stage for those marital problems we saw coming.

Most of the humor in this movie lies squarely with the character of the architecture and his overly artistic and impractical view of architecture and the world at large. Anybody who has such extreme views plays well in a comedic sense, and this guy is no exception.

For the most part, the writing and acting in this movie are quite good (especially for a movie I had never heard of before). As I said, though, unfortunately, the ending is a bit lackluster (oh well).

My advice? This movie is fun (and interesting) to watch ONCE, just because it is so unique and...weirdly funny! Although I must admit, I would not buy this movie - unless, maybe, I could find it really cheap.

Any movie with Parker Posey in it deserves a chance. I gave this one a chance. Of all the movies I have seen with her in it, this is the worst. Her character is so typical; there is nothing unusual. The part could have been played by thousands of other actresses.

The movie is about the project of designing and building a home and the interaction among the husband, wife and architect. In the movie, the husband is a successful, logical, practical financial person. She is an artist. They are highly incompatible and constantly disagree. The architect is a typical artist; he claims to consider practicality to be important but that is actually at the bottom of his priorities. He and the project (the house design) amplify the incompatibility between the husband and wife. The architecture might be creative but that is the only creative part of this movie. There is very little romance; the story is not much more than three (or four if you include the builder) people arguing. Even when she announces she is ovulating, there is no romance.

The ending is logical and not a big surprise either; in other words, not creative. And yet, the ending is sudden, as if the writer knew that there was enough material and had to end it somehow.

This had got yo be one of the worst movies of the year. James Frain wasn't funny. He actually turned my stomach he was so bad. Granted, the role he was given was a ridiculously written character but he did absolutely nothing to try to bring the character to life in any way. There was do much more that could have been done with this film. As it stands it was a poor 21st century remake of "The Money Pit" but with no stars with any talent and little future based on this ridiculous farce. Bleck.