The House Dvd

The House is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Andrew J. Cohen, and co-written by Cohen and Brendan O’Brien. The film stars Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas, Ryan Simpkins, Nick Kroll, Allison Tolman, Rob Huebel, Michaela Watkins, and Jeremy Renner, and follows a couple who open an underground casino in their friend’s house in order to pay for their daughter’s college tuition.

Principal photography began on September 14, 2015 in Los Angeles. The film was released on June 30, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures, received negative reviews from critics and grossed $34 million worldwide against its $40 million budget.

Plot

During their visit to Bucknell University, husband and wife Scott (Ferrell) and Kate Johansen (Poehler) warn their daughter of the dangers of being in college. Alex (Simpkins) acknowledges her parents’ warnings and expresses her interest in attending the same university her parents went to. Alex gets accepted to the university, which the Johansens expect to be funded by their community’s scholarship program.

Unfortunately, during a community town hall meeting, city councilor Bob Schaeffer (Kroll) announces that they will not be doing the scholarship program, in favor of building a community pool, to which everyone agrees except the Johansens. The couple tries to find funding through asking for a loan, a salary raise for Scott, and getting Kate’s job back, but everything is denied. They reluctantly agree to accompany their friend and neighbor, Frank Theodorakis (Mantzoukas), whose wife Raina (Watkins) is divorcing him over his gambling and porn addiction, to a previously-planned trip to Las Vegas. After numerous wins playing craps they lose their winnings after Scott jinxes the table by telling Frank not to roll a seven.

Back home, Frank convinces the Johansens to start an underground casino at his house to raise money for Alex’s tuition and to help him get his wife back. The casino operation proves to be running smoothly as they gain more customers. In another community town-hall meeting, city councilor Bob becomes suspicious at the low attendance and suspends the meeting to launch an investigation. Back to the Johansens’ casino, Frank discovers that one of the gamblers, Carl (Zissis), is counting cards. The Johansens and Frank confront him, but he brags that he works for mob boss Tommy Papouli (Renner). Scott accidentally chops off Carl’s middle finger, earning him the nickname “The Butcher”, making the community afraid of him, which inadvertently increases their profits.

Several thousand dollars away from reaching their goal, they are caught by Bob and officer Chandler (Huebel), who confiscate their money and order them to close down the casino. Nonetheless, they continue their business. The house burns down after being invaded by Tommy Papouli, whom the Johansens accidentally set on fire. Having admitted their plot to Alex, they team up with officer Chandler, who had let them loose, to steal the money back from Bob. Officer Chandler convinces Bob that the three still continued the casino even after he had ordered them to stop and shows a video of the people mocking him. Bob asks Officer Chandler to go with him to arrest the Johansens at the casino, which gives the Johansens the chance to steal their money back. Dawn (Tolman) alerts Bob that the Johansens are in the town hall, which convinces Bob to go back. Bob tries to make Officer Chandler drive faster, but gets into an accident himself. Bob runs back on foot to the town hall to find the Johansens with the money. After chasing the Johansens, Bob reveals his personal interest with the casino money as well as his plot to steal money from the city budget for himself and Dawn, who leaves him and returns to her husband Joe (Scovel). Bob is arrested, while Scott and Kate use the money they took back from him to pay for their daughter’s college tuition.

Cast

Will Ferrell as Scott Johansen
Amy Poehler as Kate Johansen, Scott’s wife
Jason Mantzoukas as Frank Theodorakis, Kate and Scott’s best friend
Ryan Simpkins as Alex Johansen, Scott and Kate’s daughter
Nick Kroll as Bob Schaeffer, a crooked City Hall councilman
Allison Tolman as Dawn Mayweather, the City’s treasurer and Bob’s lover.
Rob Huebel as Police Officer Chandler
Michaela Watkins as Raina Theodorakis, Frank’s ex-wife
Jeremy Renner as Tommy Papouli, a local mafia boss
Cedric Yarbrough as Reggie Henderson
Rory Scovel as Joe Mayweather, Dawn’s husband who retired at 30.
Lennon Parham as Martha
Andrea Savage as Laura
Andy Buckley as Craig
Kyle Kinane as Kevin Garvey
Steve Zissis as Carl Shackler, a henchman of Tommy Papouli
Sam Richardson as Marty
Randall Park as Buckler
Jessica St. Clair as Reba
Alexandra Daddario as Corsica
Jessie Ennis as Rachel
Gillian Vigman as Becky
Wayne Federman as Chip Dave
Sebastian Maniscalco as Stand-Up Comic
Linda Porter as Old Lady
Ian Roberts as Driver at College Campus
Bruna Rubio as Stripper