THE HOUSE
A few clean laughs cannot rescue this foul-mouthed criminal comedy.
Should You Watch It?
The premise has comic potential: two well-meaning but incompetent parents open an illegal casino to pay for their daughter’s college tuition. The film earns a few genuinely funny clean laughs, and it includes some light pro-family material because the parents care about their daughter’s future.
But the comedy never really takes off. The opening is poorly put together, and that problem returns several times. More seriously, the movie is loaded with profanity, extreme comic violence, substance abuse, and criminal behavior treated as successful and consequence-free.
The review’s answer is clear: skip The House, especially for family viewing.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESScott and Kate face a terrible problem when their daughter loses the town’s college scholarship. Unable to pay for her tuition, they join their gambling-addicted friend Frank in opening an illegal casino at his house.
Their plan is to raise enough money for college. But the inexperienced operators soon begin behaving like gangsters, and their criminal scheme creates increasingly disastrous complications.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means The House has only limited entertainment value. It earns a few genuinely funny clean laughs, and the middle of the movie picks up somewhat.
The larger problems are substantial. The opening is poorly constructed and unconvincing, and similar weaknesses appear elsewhere. The comedy never fully takes off. The result is a slipshod numskull comedy whose strongest premise is undermined by weak execution and material that is often not funny.
The Worldview
The film presents a decidedly pagan and lawless worldview. Its central characters run an illegal casino, engage in criminal loan-sharking activities, and ultimately get away with their crimes. The movie therefore presents crime as profitable rather than showing meaningful consequences for wrongdoing.
It also heavily promotes and makes light of marijuana use. The mother resumes her marijuana addiction, while the daughter and her friends are shown smoking marijuana. Alcohol abuse and cocaine use appear as well.
The film does contain some light moral and pro-family elements. The parents care about their daughter’s future, and some family bonds and love are shown. The review also notes a patriotic nod to first responders during the end credits.
The story’s concern for family cannot overcome its celebration of lawlessness and frequent drug use. Scripture gives a different moral accounting: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong pagan worldview with strong antinomian or lawless elements, set in a comical context, where main characters get away with some illegal activities, plus some light moral, pro-family content where parents are concerned about their daughter’s future and where some family bonds and love are shown, and a patriotic nod to first responders in times of violence or disaster in a song during the end credits; at least 106 obscenities (mostly “f” words), four strong profanities and seven light profanities, plus one or two obscenities during end credits, one obscene gesture, and woman with a hangover vomits in a plastic container at a container store; some extreme, strong and light comic violence includes man with axe threatening man accidentally cuts off one of man’s fingers, and it bleeds profusely over the man with an ax as he tries to put the finger back on other man’s hand, bloodied ax man wanders in a daze through house turned illegal casino with a lot of people and out the back door into the woods, men scuffle so characters set up a makeshift boxing ring for them to box, and one man knocks out other man with one single punch, two women get into a scuffle, and they also fight in the ring using some really hurtful moves and kicks and punches, a few pratfalls, main characters fight gangsters, one man’s hand is cut off with ax, and his arm’s set on fire, and people throw alcohol on him to put out the flames, but this of course just makes things worse, man chases characters in one extended scene, and there’s some heavy fighting such as man knocks other man brutally against wall by flying at him with his feet, and some threats of violence occur; implied adulterous sex, implied marital sex, talk about adultery, talk about marital sex, a few crude jokes about things like oral sex and self-abuse; brief shots of upper female nudity in background, photo of a chalk outline of a male sex organ on a high school football field, and some rear male nudity; alcohol use and drunkenness; scenes of marijuana use promoting marijuana, woman admits she’s addicted to marijuana, a couple men snort cocaine, and cocaine blows all over small crowd of people (including a policeman) when policeman raids an illegal gambling joint; and, gambling, running an illegal casino and trying to hide it from the authorities, extortion, kidnapping, talk embezzlement, lying, and male protagonist enjoys calling himself “The Butcher” and his wife enjoys calling herself “The Burner” as they engage in enforcing their criminal loan sharking activities.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The parents hide their financial problem instead of admitting it to their daughter. Why can secrecy make a difficult situation worse?
Ephesians 4:25 · Proverbs 12:22The characters use an illegal casino to solve a family need. Does a good goal make a wrong action right?
Romans 3:8 · Micah 6:8The story allows the main characters to escape consequences for their crimes. What does Scripture say about justice, confession, and accountability?
Numbers 32:23 · 1 John 1:9The film treats marijuana use as humorous and desirable. How should Christians think about habits that promise pleasure but can control a person?
1 Corinthians 6:12 · Ephesians 5:18The Final Word
The House has a promising setup and a few clean laughs, but its profanity, extreme violence, drug promotion, and consequence-free criminality make it a poor choice. SKIP IT. For better family options, see.
