Houseguest (1995)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The plot is formulaic, the characters are trite. Even worse, the characters are all negative stereotypes without any parody with which to lampoon them. As such, the movie is nearer to a Saturday morning cartoon than to National Lampoon. It is not smart. Still, much of Sinbad's comic delivery is fun, I'll admit! His "award-acceptance" monologue near the beginning I find hilarious. I can picture a golden age icon like young Mickey Rooney or Jimmy Stewart doing the same scene with a zany innocence... but Sinbad is a comic for our times and because of the edginess of his character (who was set up to look like a petty criminal) that scene couldn't have been more funny. I also enjoy the tooth-removal sequence. It's comedy worthy of Jerry Lewis or Lucille Ball, and that the entire film is really a build up to that scene makes it forgivable. I watched it because mistaken/hidden identity stories are often funny... and I watch any and every movie with Jeffrey Jones.

Kevin Franklin (Sinbad) finds himself in debt and is forced to pull off the hoax of the century by posing as an affluent dentist in suburbia, USA. Naturally, hilarity ensues as Franklin, a street smart con-man, is forced to adapt to the norms and conventions of middle-class white America. Expecting a conservative dentist, the host family bites off more than they can chew as Franklin turns their world upside down! Get ready to raise the roof!!! lol! But amid all this comedy is a great lesson about acceptance of other cultures and lifestyles. Not only does Sinbad change their lives, but something in Sinbad changes too. I just bought this on DVD (finally!) and haven't laughed this hard since "A Night With Sinbad" at the Dallas Convention Center in '96 where he introduced his now famous "peanut butter" bit!

For what this movie was it was perfect. I first watched this when I was an ignorant kid but I can still appreciate it now that I'm an ignorant college student. Phil Hartman could not have been better but that should not be surprising if you're one of the many out there that deems him a genius like myself. Sinbad did his part and contributed to many laughs. The story is what you'd expect with an underachiever from the hood hooking up with some white surburbians. Sinbad's job is to bring us into the lilly white community of Zwickley and deconstruct the Puritan values and customs that everyone has become accustomed to. Sinbad makes white people let loose by passing around a wine bottle and dance to "Brick House." Sounds great doesn't it? But if you're looking for mind perplexing subject matter you're in the wrong place to begin with. Sit back, laugh, and enjoy a very underrated '90's comedy. One of the few leading role works by the late Phil Hartman.

Houseguest. One of Sinbad's funniest movies and Phil Hartman's funniest movies. Sinbad plays a 35-year old, never want go get a job, con man, who is in to the mob for $50,000 dollars. After trying to escape from the con man, he impersonates a dentist and that's when the fun begins.Right off the back, Sinbad brings the laughs. All of of lines about the great white shark biting his friends head off and the GFH off of his suit jacket. This is a wonderful movie and I would recommend it to anyone, because Sinbad is a comedian that doesn't need profanity to be funny.Funny 10/10!