This is under Q because of Dennis Quaid.
Writer: David Loughery (Screenplay)
Starring: Michael Ealy, Meagan Good, Dennis Quaid, Erica Cerra, Joseph Sikora, Alvina August
Plot: A young married couple buys a beautiful house on several acres of land, only to find out that the man they bought it from refuses to let go of the property.
Tagline – Don’t Let Him In
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Thriller You Can Have Fun With
Story: The Intruder starts as successful businessman Scott (Ealy) decides to surprise his wife Annie (Good) with a new home, a dream home, buying the family home off Charlie Peck (Quaid), who has lived in the house for his whole life.
With the couple moved in, they look to make their own changes to the home, with Charlie turning up to help around the house, never seeming to want to leave, which starts to raise the tension between Scott and Charlie, even though Annie being more welcoming about having somebody else around, until his darker side comes out.
Thoughts on The Intruder
Characters – Scott is the company’s top salesman, he is married to Annie, with them both ready to start a family, he has made mistakes in the past, has strict rules he follows in his own house and gets tired with Charlie always arriving at his house. Annie is the wife that has been waiting to start a family with her dream home, she is welcoming to Charlie because she is spending days alone in the house, without any friends visiting, designing it how she wants to. Charlie is the former homeowner that lived in the house for his whole life, he lost his wife in the house and despite selling, he doesn’t want to leave, always arriving back at the house to visit, being overly friendly, despite getting plenty of warnings about leaving them alone.
Performances – Michael Ealy does struggle to get into the leading man role, he doesn’t make us feel any sympathy for his character in the film. Meagan Good does give us a strong wife figure that shows how friendly her character is, while Dennis Quaid is creepy as they come through the film, stealing every scene.
Story – The story here follows a couple who believe they have bought their dream home, only to find the owner isn’t willing to leave and won’t stop visiting. While this might well turn the home invasion story around in places, with the normal being a mix of complete strangers or former owner living in the walls without anyone knowing, this does change this to be an overly friendly becoming obsessed figure. When it comes to the character development around Scott and Annie, we have very little here, Scott is portrayed to be the cheating type, while Annie is pushed into the wife role that doesn’t have much else to say or do. One of the glaring problems with this story, is the fact the house is worth over $3 million and if you have the money to buy this house, if you think it is strange things are going on, you have the money to leave.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in this film doesn’t get involved until too late into the film, with most of the film balancing on thriller side with what might happen.
Settings – The film does use the house as the main setting, which does have an isolated location while being filled with beauty around it.
Scene of the Movie – The creepy smile.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Just move, its simple, you are that rich.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun to watch silly home invasion movie that is funnier that it should be.
Overall: Fun to watch drunk.
