Review of Houseguest

You will never once catch me saying that Houseguest is a really good movie. The storyline is ridiculous, the behavior of the characters is ludicrous, and many of the scenarios in the film are nonsense. The entire film is built on the premise of a guy who lives his life one lie at a time, hoping for his big break, but there are several times when it doesn't even seem like he's a convincing liar. Yet, despite all its flaws, I find Houseguest to be quite funny. There is something that works about the combination of Sinbad and Phil Hartman, and I find myself laughing even when the jokes aren't that great. I enjoy some of the situational humor that they built into the script, and most of it feels like a cohesive plot rather than awkward vignettes that are shoehorned in for no reason.

Sinbad's brand of humor won't work for a lot of people, and I can appreciate that. Through most of the film, Phil Hartman is forced into the role of straight man, which many people will not like either. I guess you could say this movie falls somewhere in the guilty pleasure category for me. It's not one of my favorite comedies, but it still entertains me, even though I've seen it dozens of times. I am a sucker for storylines about an unlikely person coming in and helping a family grow closer together (and making their own lives better in the process.) It's a heartwarming plot structure that always gives me a reason to smile at the end. Houseguest is not a film I'm going to recommend to others, but there is a chance some people will enjoy it as much as me.