| The House of Yes | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Waters |
| Screenplay by | Mark Waters |
| Based on | The House of Yes byWendy MacLeod |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Michael Spiller |
| Edited by | Pamela Martin |
| Music by | Jeff Rona |
Production company | Bandeira Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $626,057[1] |
The House of Yes is a 1997 Americandark comedy film adapted fromthe play of the same name byWendy MacLeod. The film was written and directed byMark Waters (in hisdirectorial debut), produced byRobert Berger, and starsParker Posey,Josh Hamilton,Tori Spelling,Freddie Prinze Jr. andGeneviève Bujold. It was released in the United States byMiramax Films on October 10, 1997.The House of Yes received a divided critical reaction, with Posey winning aSundance Award and Spelling receiving aRazzie Award nomination.
OnThanksgiving in 1983, Marty Pascal travels from New York City toMcLean, Virginia, to visit his family: mother Mrs. Pascal, younger brother Anthony, and twin sister "Jackie-O". Jackie-O, recently released from apsychiatric hospital, is obsessed withJacqueline Kennedy Onassis and often dresses as her in thepink suit she wore whenJohn F. Kennedy was assassinated. Marty surprises his family with news he is engaged; he introduces his fiancée Lesly, a waitress at a doughnut store. Lesly's arrival disrupts the family's gathering, and Jackie-O conspires to break the couple up.
It soon becomes apparent that Marty and Jackie-O started anincestuous relationship as teenagers. Jackie-O convinces Marty to play their favorite childhood "game", involving using a gun loaded withblanks to re-enact the Kennedy assassination; she created the "game" as foreplay when he hesitated before the first time they had sex. A horrified Lesly witnesses the encounter and is comforted by Anthony, who had already told her of Marty and Jackie's incestuous relationship. He convinces Lesly that he is a virgin, leading to a brief and awkward sexual encounter. Lesly ultimately rejects Anthony, who reveals that Jackie once shot Marty because she did not want him to leave for New York. Shortly afterward, Mrs. Pascal orders Lesly to return alone to New York in the morning, threatening to tell Marty about her affair with Anthony.
In the morning, upon seeing the gun next to the twins, Mrs. Pascal demands that Marty hide it. Lesly confronts Marty about what she witnessed. Marty breaks down and begs Lesly to return to New York with him. Jackie-O convinces Marty that she will let him leave if he agrees to play the game one final time. She finds the gun, then recalls the events that led to their absent father's departure; Marty claims that he walked out on the family the day of the Kennedy assassination, but Jackie-O believes that he was shot by Mrs. Pascal and buried in the backyard. Jackie-O fires the gun at Marty, now loaded with real bullets, killing him. Footage of Jackie Kennedy is then shown as Lesly screams. Lesly runs from the house and a flashback shows Jackie-O in her costume as a teenager, being filmed by Marty as she asks him to "stop it", then gives him a coy smile.
In addition,Rachael Leigh Cook and David Love have cameos as young Jackie-O and the voice of young Marty, respectively.
The House of Yes was reportedly financed entirely by Tori Spelling's fatherAaron Spelling and his companySpelling Entertainment.[2][3][4] When it was released, director Mark Waters described his own work as "part Gothic revenge drama, part contemporary psychological thriller, and extremely funny."[5] It premiered at the 1997Sundance Film Festival,[6] where its screening attracted the interest ofMiramax.[6] According toVariety, Miramax paid two million dollars to acquire the distribution rights to the film.[6]The House of Yes was given alimited theatrical release beginning on October 10, 1997.[7] The film was a box-office disappointment, grossing $626,057 on its $1.5 million budget.[8]
It was released to theaters the same month as theslasher filmI Know What You Did Last Summer, which was Freddie Prinze Jr.'s breakout role. Many of the new fans he attracted on the strength of that role were unable to seeThe House of Yes, since it was mainly playing atart house theaters and had an age-restrictedMPAA rating.[9] Prinze Jr. shotI Know What You Did Last Summer afterThe House of Yes, and remembered in 2020 that he was "such a young, naive actor" at the time, adding that "[Waters] helped me so, so much. He also directedMean Girls withLindsay Lohan. He really just pulls beautiful performances out of people."[10] In another interview, he claimed thatThe House of Yes was a turning point in his career, and said that the passion of Waters and co-star Parker Posey made him fall in love with acting.[9] He recalled not being "smooth with women at all" when it was filmed, and had trouble doing a scene where he had to kiss Tori Spelling's character.[9]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 62% based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[11] OnMetacritic the film has a score of 58% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]
Siskel and Ebert gave the film two thumbs down on the October 25, 1997, episode of their program.[13]Roger Ebert looked upon the film more favorably in his review for theChicago Sun-Times, stating "The dialogue, adapted by director Mark Waters from Wendy MacLeod's stage play, is smart and terse, with a lot of back-and-forth word play, most of it driven by Jackie-O, who is played by Posey as smart, dark and fresh out of an institution [...] While it was running, I was not bored."[14]
In his positive review forEntertainment Weekly,Owen Gleiberman wrote that "The House of Yes is knowingly overripe, a kitsch melodrama that dares to makeincest sexy."[15] He also praised the casting of Posey, noting that "Parker Posey may never have a role that suits her as perfectly."[15] Of Spelling, Dennis Harvey ofVariety wrote, "Casting Spelling as the fiancee was an inspired stroke, as auds already associate her with a certain cluelessness but she’s actually quite good, too, as Lesly gradually reveals a surprising determination beneath her squarer-than-square surface."[6] Reviewing the film at the Sundance Festival, Noah Cowan ofFilmmaker magazine praised Posey and Spelling's performances, however, he further noted that "the crazy bourgeois family drama feels claustrophobic for all the wrong reasons: overtly theatrical, it has too much chatter, exaggerated characterizations and a narrative circle closed tight to the point of strangulation."[16]The Austin Chronicle acknowledged the strong performances of the cast, but stated, "it's just that there's really not all that much for them to do."[17]The House of Yes was included inMagill's Cinema Annual 1998: A Survey of the Films of 1997. The book states that, "likeThe Myth of Fingerprints (1997), Mark Waters' directorial debut is another entry in the dysfunctional, home-for-the-holidays genre, only this movie is one creepy black comedy", adding that "[the] shocking tale of family secrets is both perversely funny and fearless." The book said that Posey was "perfectly cast as the glamorous yet twisted Jackie-O", claiming that her performance is "the highlight of the film – she far outshines the other actors with her dead-on portrayal of a unstable young woman about to go over the edge."[18]
A negative review at the time came fromRex Reed ofThe New York Observer. He wrote in October 1997, "The House of Yes is supposed to be what unhinged rookie playwrights call a 'black comedy', but as Molly used to say toFibber McGee on the radio, “T’ain’t funny, McGee."[5] Reed criticized the claustrophobic nature of the film and the "static" direction of Waters, saying "at least the misfits inHome for the Holidays andThe Myth of Fingerprints got away from the cranberry sauce from time to time and actually fled the claustrophobia of the dining room table. The loony tunes inThe House of Yes don’t look as if they even remember the last time they breathed real air or ate real food."[5] He also disliked Tori Spelling's role in the film, remarking, "does the fact that Mr. Spelling provided the financing have anything to do with this hapless miscasting? Just asking."[5]
For her performance, Posey was awarded a Special Recognition for Acting Award at Sundance.[19]
