House Arrest (1996)

A group of children, desperate to keep their various parents from getting divorces, kidnap them and hold them prisoner in a basement in order to force them to reconcile.

Director:

Harry Winer

Writer:

Michael Hitchcock

Stars:

Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Pollak, Kyle Howard

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Seltz-Wald	...	Jimmy Finley (as Alex Seitz)
Josh Wolford	...	Teddy Finley
Wallace Shawn	...	Victor 'Vic' Finley
Jennifer Love Hewitt	...	Brooke Figler
Patrika Darbo	...	Cafeteria Cashier
Ray Walston	...	Chief Rocco
Christopher McDonald	...	Donald Krupp
Colleen Camp	...	Mrs. Burtis

Storyline

High-schooler Grover Beindorf and his younger sister Stacy decide that their parents, Janet and Ned, are acting childishly when they decide to divorce after 18 years of marriage, so they lock them up in the basement until they'll sort out their problems. Their schoolfriends also decide to do the same with their parents to solve their respective problems.

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Plot Keywords:

wanting parents back together | motherhood | police officer | house arrest | slimehouse | 

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Taglines:

Home is where the hostages are.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ray Walston & Wallace Shawn collaborated later on in My Favorite Martian (1999).

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Goofs

When Mr. Krupp gets through the concrete, the appearance is given that he'd been digging straight through, however when Mr. Finley goes through and gets stuck in the concrete, he's coming up through a hole made in the concrete lain ground level, rather than perpendicular to the ground. In addition to it being a factual goof, given the previous scene, it would also be physically impossible for him to climb through, seeing as his back would have to be bent at a 90 degree angle at one point in order to accomplish this feat.

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Quotes

Ned Beindorf: They got my tools!
Janet Beindorf: And the phone's gone too!
[Ned pulls back the curtains]
Janet Beindorf: Oh my God!
Ned Beindorf: Boarded up the windows?
Grover: We boarded up the frames and filled the bases with cement. I used the cement that's been sitting in the garage for the past three years.

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Crazy Credits

As the closing credits roll, we are shown the various family members in Hawaii hula-dancing, often in native garb or something close to it, singly and in various combinations. The footage ends with Chief Rocco (Ray Walston) stumbling out of some bushes with a set of night-vision goggles with which he tries to observe the rest of the cast (in full daylight).

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Connections

Features One Life to Live (1968)

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Soundtracks

Too Good to Wake From
Written and Produced by Richard Rudolph and Michael Sembello
Published by Dolph Songs, Al Dente Music/BMG Music Publishing/Rysher Music, Inc./Rysher Songs, Inc.
Performed by Zendetta

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

House Arrest

Filming Locations:

Monrovia, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,275,808, 18 August 1996

Gross USA:

$7,032,782

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,032,782

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Rysher Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital Dolby Digital (1998 Re-Release) SDDS (1998 Re-Release) DTS (Digital DTS Sound) (1998 Re-Release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1