The Guest (DVD) – Movie Review
Imagine this: a guy rings your doorbell claiming he knew your late son from the army. Would you invite him in and let him stay for a couple of days? Well, it’s what a family in this movie did and it is probably the worst decision they ever made. If you learn one thing from this movie, it’s to never let a stranger in. Meet David, better known as ‘The Guest’.
One normal, not exciting, totally boring afternoon, David (Dan Stevens) rings the bell at the house of the family Peterson. He claims to have known their recently deceased son Caleb (they were both soldiers in the military) and wanted to pay his respects to the family. After having a couple of conversations with the fellow, the family is convinced David has come with only good intentions in mind and they make the decision to let him stay for a couple of days. After all, he’s about the closest person who befriended their late son Caleb and they want to hear all about their time together in the military. Anna Peterson (Maika Monroe), the daughter, isn’t quite convinced at first that David is one to be trusted but when he joins her on a house party of one of her friends, they start to bond. The same happens with her brother Luke (Brendan Meyer) as David shows him some moves how to defend himself against annoying bullies.
Everything must be perfect, right? Well not exactly. When some kind of special forces receives information on David’s whereabouts, the whole movie shifts into a higher gear. Suddenly, David isn’t all what he seemed to be at first. The Guest starts off at a rather slow pace but once the cat is out of the bag, there’s a chain of action-packed events following each other. Although there’s always some kind of build-up in movies like this one, it felt like David’s story could’ve been more fleshed out. After having seen the whole movie, it’s still not quite clear why ‘The Guest’ did what he did and whatever reason is behind his actions. Okay, you do get some vague explanation eventually, but the whole movie, you kind of expect to see/hear more about what is actually going on. Story wise, The Guest is nothing overly spectacular and could’ve used a more thought through plot.
As The Guest is branded an action movie, there are of course some pure action scenes going on at some point. Thanks to the slow build-up as previously mentioned, it’s really a relief to finally get to the real stuff. A lot of particular action moves have already been done (and done better) in other popular movies but still, the shootouts are fun to see unfold and with a brutal murder here and there, action fans can be quite happy with this movie.
The acting is pretty standard without anyone actually standing out. The main character David, played by Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, The Fifth Estate) often tries a bit too hard to be a badass ex-military guy. Although he tries to hide the fact that he’s not a really friendly person, you can clearly see how much of a façade it really is. It would’ve been a lot more convincing if he’d put more effort in fooling everybody about the true nature of his character. Now, half of the excitement is plainly gone because the acting is a bit too obvious. Brendan Meyer (Mr. Young, Dinosapien) and Maiko Monroe (Labor Day, The Bling Ring), although both still quite young, do their best to portray their respective personages but as said before, nobody really stands out. It would’ve been welcome if the acting was a bit more professional as now, you really couldn’t care less about what happens to the people in the movie.
Extras wise, the DVD comes with a few fun things to see. First of all, there’s some audio commentary to guide you through the movie. The obligatory deleted scenes also make their presence here and lastly, we’ve got an outtake and extended intro scenes for those of you who like seeing alternatives ways of shooting a movie.
Conclusion
The Guest is certainly not the blockbuster we’ve all been waiting for. The narrative could’ve been fleshed out more and the acting is quite standard without any real praiseworthy performances. Luckily, the action scenes prove to be fun to watch, although there’s not much originality going on. Still, if you’re looking for a somewhat decent action movie without a complex plot, The Guest might be worth a shot if no better alternatives are available.
The Guest (DVD) - Movie Review,
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