The House of Tomorrow

The trailer made this movie look like a whole lot more fun than it actually is. The trailer makes it look like a comedy but it's a fairly heavy drama and the few humorous bits are chuckle worthy at best. It's a decent movie for what it is, perhaps even a good one, but I rated it low because how misrepresented it was. I was NOT in the mood for something so serious.

"The House of Tomorrow" is a tale of two isolated boys struggling to take control of their lives that's too clean-cut in its depiction of rebellion. In the movie, for me, everything around these two budding friends feels underdeveloped. The film is one of those quirky comedies filled with random contrived occurrences solely existing to push the plot forward. Some of those guideposts are profoundly insightful; others just feel dramatically convenient. As result, the story and characters deserve better than the amateurish scripting and cringe-inducing comedy on display here. It walks the line between decent and bad quite a bit, but unfortunately it have obvious, cliché ending. If you're a fan of punk rock, geodesic domes and an retro type of movies you will enjoy this film, otherwise I suggest that you skip it. 6-/10

Whenever I see medical subjects in film or tv it usually bothers me, because it seems there is always some thing they got wrong. But in this movie i was happy that they got it right. Jared didnt just have the 'zipper', he had the mediastinal chest tube scars. And, they took him to the cath lab, which is a popular place for heart transplant patients on the regular. And, and... the fluoro they showed on the monitor was an LAO/caudal view of clean coronaries. As a cath lab nurse, i was pleased. The movie was pretty good too, then again I have a soft spot for coming of age films and Alex Wolff.

The House of Tomorrow is based off a great book which deserves to be made into a great film, this is not what we got. Instead the final product of this shelved work, seems more rushed than we hope for. That being said, there is still enjoyment to be found in this film, from all the fun filled performances, especially that from Alex Wolf, and the daring sense of adventure and friendship, which the film unfortunately doesn't get to reveal its full potential of, but what we got is still enough to settle for. The film is funny, but ultimately is too faced paced for its own good. We only hoped they could have spent more time on it, maybe then we could have got something great, rather than something simply fine. My Rating: 7.75/10

It was great to hear the back story about one of the greatest architects and minds ever. I really enjoyed that element of the story. The rest seemed pulled from various teen novels that I failed to relate with. Maybe I am the wrong person to be making a review about a movie that wanted to focus on the punk music or rather elements of it. Something is missing that I can't define about the movie. I give it a pass but if you are a teen or enjoy the teen genre enjoy yourself.

What really shines in the film are the actors. Asa Butterfield and Alex Wolff are good, I dare say Nick Offerman is great. Not so much Ellen Burstyn, who had a cardboard role and a similar approach to it. The story is also interesting, although polluted with some tough to swallow cliches like "the teenage kid that never had soda and speaks like a dictionary" or "the nasty but good at heart kids". But once you get over those, the film is very pleasant. There are some scenes that are just wonderful. Bottom line: coming of age story with a nice happy ending, an exploration of the teenage angst from the eyes of a naive and sheltered child raised in the spirit of futurism by a nutty grandmother. I recommend it.