House of D

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House of D ★★ 2004 (PG-13)

First time writer/director Duchovny is Tom Warshaw. He recounts for his son the events of his own early adolescence that shaped his life. In the early ‘70s, young Tommy has recently lost his father, his mother is suffering from depression, his best friend is Pappas, the retarded janitor at his school, he gets life advice from an inmate at the nearby Women's House of Detention, and he is just now noticing girls, particularly neighbor Melissa. This last development leads a jealous Pappas to petty theft to win back Tommy's friendship. Cloying, overly sentimental, and shamelessly sappy, this tale works much better as nostalgia for the carefree Greenwich Village Duchovny grew up in than the coming of age fable he obviously intended. 96m/C DVD . US FR David Duchovny, Anton Yelchin, Erykah Badu, Robin Williams, Zelda Williams, Magali Amadei, Tea Leoni, Frank Langella, Harold Cartier, Orlando Jones, Alice Drummond; D: David Duchovny; W: David Duchovny; C: Michael Chapman; M: Geoff Zanelli.