House Arrest (1996)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Harry Winer

Writer (WGA):

Michael Hitchcock (written by)

Release Date:

14 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Home is where the hostages are.

Plot:

High-schooler Grover Beindorf and his younger sister Stacy decide that their parents, Janet and Ned...

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Basement | Children | Mother Daughter Relationship | Blind Folded

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kyle Howard	...	Gregory Alan 'Grover' Beindorf
Herbert Russell	...	T.J. Krupp (as Russel Harper)
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Janet Beindorf
Kevin Pollak	...	Ned Beindorf
Amy Sakasitz	...	Stacy Beindorf
Mooky Arizona	...	Matt Finley
Caroline Aaron	...	Louise Finley
Alex Seitz	...	Jimmy Finley
Josh Wolford	...	Teddy Finley
Wallace Shawn	...	Victor 'Vic' Finley
Jennifer Love Hewitt	...	Brooke Figler
Patrika Darbo	...	Cafetaria Cashier
Ray Walston	...	Chief Rocco
Christopher McDonald	...	Donald Krupp
Colleen Camp	...	Mrs. Burtis

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic material and language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #34179) | South Korea:All | Germany:6 (w) | UK:PG (video premiere) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Monrovia, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Police ring the door bell, the Christmas lights are flashing, however this was after Mr. Beindorf had shut off the power to the house.

Quotes:

Grover: Feel the fear... and go for it.
[finds Brooke]
Grover: You... owe me a quarter.
[Brooke bursts into tears]

Movie Connections:

Features Falling Hare (1943)

Soundtrack:

TJ's

Funny with a useful lesson

This comedy, about a teenager and his younger sister who lock their parents in the basement until they work out their marital problems, is not as bad as it sounds. We wind up with a bunch of kids upstairs who know how to relate to one another but gradually have to work out how to keep practical things running, and a bunch of adults downstairs who are just the opposite. In truth, neither side does very well, but at least this is not the tired condescension of the kids screwing up and needing to be rescued by the adults: both groups are portrayed with a mix of severity and sympathy. Throw in a meddling retired chief of police across the street, and make him Ray Walston whom I think everybody loved most in "Picket Fences," and you have a film that is very entertaining, and also carries across some deeper meaning about what contributions young people and older ones can make to each other's ongoing development. Kyle Howard was 18 trying to play 14, which took a good deal of suspension of disbelief, but that miscasting seems to be an obsession Hollywood just can't seem to grow out of.