Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

masonfisk Knowing only 2 of Duchovny's past writing credits from the X-files, I was hoping for the best for his first feature film but boy, was I disappointed.Instead of channeling this story into a novel or at least tackling some genre material (he could've done a great job writing an X-files sequel after the first feature, instead of the crap fest we got recently), Mr. Duchovny felt the time was now to tell this particularly dense, yet heartfelt story.Spanning several decades which begin in the early 70's, we see the push & pull of a young artist's life as he handles first love, a domineering mother, catholic school, a mentally challenged father figure & friendship of a woman in a detention center (where the film gets its title).Any one of these plot lines could be a novel unto itself or even a decent TV series (that may've worked) but trying to put everything under the sun into this effort makes the whole feel like its bursting at its seams.Hopefully the gut punch audience reaction hasn't scared him away but I haven't heard anything regarding a follow-up from David, so who knows.Pity.

Rodrigo Amaro I remember Spielberg quoting something that goes something like this: "Everything's already filmed, there's nothing much to do nowadays in terms of film". Regardless if I quote him rightly or not, what's he saying is quite right. There's no stories left to tell anymore, and I add this, if there is maybe the studios are not interested in developing, or writers are not selling their materials the way it should be, they always have to alter something. What's "House of D." has to do with this statement? Well, it's a film that looks, sounds and resonates as something already made far too many times before. So, here's another coming of age flick with a good cast, thoughtful messages to present, heavily dosed with corny moments.Directing and acting in this, David Duchovny begins his story with his character, a young musician living in Paris, telling stories of his youth (now played by Anton Yelchin) and his friendship with a mental disabled man (Robin Williams, wait a minute. "Jack" again? That was better though), and the many things that occupies a boy's mind and body when he reaches the adolescence. No surprises, you can guess all sorts of problems he'll face here. First love, friendship tested, disagreements in the family because the boy's growing up, etc. All of that exists in so many (and better!) flicks that the only new pleasure in seeing "House of D." is some of the performances and some of the unreal situations presented.Audiences can enjoy this and see much more than just a simple film? Sure, they can. There's valuable life lessons in all what happens with the main character when young, that made him what he is in the future, through long talks with a woman in a penitentiary (Erykah Badu), best moments of the film where she teaches many things about life. There's plenty of cute and pleasant moments enriched with a potent and wonderful soundtrack (the highest point of the film is when Allman Brothers Band's "Melissa" starts to play, Yelchin's character selected it to dance with a crush of his named...Melissa!) but there isn't much life in this. The clichés are wasted, I've seen it enough times. If you haven't it, of course you'll enjoy it more than I did and maybe call it one of the greatest films ever made, thinking why it wasn't so much of a hit. Answer: because of everything I've said.If "House of D." works with some efficiency is because of Anton Yelchin, who carries the film with a certain innocence, rare to find these days, and some aspects that makes us remind of ourselves in a distant part of our lives. Duchovny, Frank Langella, Badu and Téa Leoni have all good roles, they make of this something more than decent. The wrong note comes to Yelchin's big partner that behaves like a kid Robin Williams, with wrong facial expressions/excessive make up to look younger. He's quite forgettable here despite having some good scenes.It's something good but never great. 6/10

sddavis63 My first reaction to this film is that it reminds me of why I'm not a fan of David Duchovny. Something about him as an actor doesn't work for me. He's never really done anything (including "The X Files") that has really turned me on. "House of D" doesn't change that. His actual role as Tom Warshaw is a limited one - restricted to the first and last few scenes set in Paris and New York respectively. That role wasn't the key role of the movie, but it is Duchovny's character who sets the stage by telling his French wife that he's finally going to tell her the story of how he came to France. Most of the rest of the story is a flashback to 1973 New York, when Tommy (now played by Anton Yelchin) was 13. Tommy's life was an unhappy one. That point was certainly made, and somehow Tommy ends up receiving life lessons from a woman inmate who speaks to him from the window of a detention centre (the House of D). They speak about love and friendship and family, but eventually everything in Tommy's life spirals out of control. There's a certain sympathy for the character no doubt, but somehow the structure and pacing of the movie didn't build the story well - which probably explains why Duchovny hasn't done much else as either a director or writer. The movie was not put together well. The story moves along slowly and largely purposelessly until all of a sudden there's about 10 minutes of nothing but attempts at tearjerking, as literally all of Tommy's relationships collapse. There was too much all at once after too much of very little. After Tom finishes telling the story to his wife, the movie ends with Tom confronting his past and recovering some relationships by returning to New York.I'd say this was disappointing, but the truth is that I didn't expect that much from this. There's a solid enough supporting cast, including the likes of Robin Williams as Tommy's "retarded" friend Pappas and Tea Leoni (Duchovny's real-life wife) as Tommy's mother, but Duchovny himself showed little talent as either director or writer for building a story and moving it along at a proper pace. (3/10)

Nicole Vitolann This movie was great. Most People would think that Duchovny can't do it, but he did. An blew me away. You feel for the characters.This movie makes it okay to laugh and cry at the same time. Wonderful job by, new-comer, Anton Yelchin, and the veterans (Robin Williams, Tea Leoni) did amazing too!Anton has lots of talent and has big chances in movies. Robin Williams maybe America's funny man, but he is also an amazing dramatic actor.Tea Leoni is, as always, her perfect self. She is a terrific actress and is able to show happiness, even when she doesn't smile.An Bravo to Mr. David Duchovny, wrote and directed a wonderful story. Getting himself out of "The X-Files" shadow. There are of course a few errors, but believe you me--IT DOESN'T MATTER! The movie is still Fantastic!HIGHLY Recommend!