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House of Fools (2003)

tomatometer

40

Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 20
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 12

No consensus yet.

audience

78

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 2,861

My Rating

Movie Info

War brings together a disillusioned soldier and a sweet but delusional woman in this romantic comedy-drama from director Andrei Konchalovsky. A small Russian mental hospital near the border of Chechnya is home to a group of eccentric but harmless patients, among them Janna (Julia Vysotsky), a cheerful woman who likes to play accordion and is convinced pop singer Bryan Adams is her fiancé; over-excitable Vika (Marina Politseymako); and highly prolific would-be poet Ali (Stanislav Varkki). When

Oct 28, 2003

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All Critics (50) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (29) | DVD (4)

Vysotsky projects an essential sunniness that helps keep the film from turning maudlin.

August 29, 2003
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It may be based on a true story, but another filmmaker told it before -- and better.

August 22, 2003 Full Review Source: Miami Herald
Miami Herald
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It ultimately feels like a folly that sounded great in the filmmaker's head, so great that he had to be put on screen, where it flounders around with no small degree of embarrassment.

July 11, 2003 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News
Dallas Morning News
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There's not much to Konchalovsky's tale ... but it's often beautifully told; a gentle fantasy of a harsh time.

June 13, 2003
Seattle Times
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With its cast of nauseatingly lovable lunatics, House of Fools may make you feel like you've been tricked into suffering through the Kevin Spacey flick K-Pax with subtitles.

May 22, 2003 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Ruined from the start by its insulting depiction of mental illness.

May 16, 2003 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Tiresome!

October 28, 2003 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's hard to dislike a movie that identifies Russian mental patients as Bryan Adams' core audience.

August 29, 2003 Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly
Orlando Weekly

Janna, played with endearing toughness by Julia Vysotsky, is the heart of this film.

August 21, 2003 Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Unbelievably insensitive in its depiction of the mentally ill.

July 11, 2003 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | Comments (2)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

It's an odd mix to combine the harsh reality of war with the surreal world of mental patients. This makes for a bizarre movie, but it has some really tender moments.

July 11, 2003 Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com

War is insane. Insane people are cute. Bryan Adams is God. There, now that you've got these three principles down, you don't need to see House of Fools.

July 8, 2003 Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY
eye WEEKLY

Sub-Fellini nonsense.

June 28, 2003 Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego Union-Tribune

The use of Bryan Adams as the madwoman's imagined paramour is indicative of just how mediocre this movie is.

June 15, 2003 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle

Too disjointed, derivative and stylistically clumsy to be much more than an irritant.

June 14, 2003 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion
One Guy's Opinion

As Janna demonstrates, old assumptions and passions certainly die hard. And the worst is when they don't die at all.

June 12, 2003 Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Daily Star

Often trying and not wholly successful but highly ambitious and ultimately rewarding.

June 12, 2003 Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Audience Reviews for House of Fools

A Russian docu-drama that's intriguing for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the BEAUTIFUL and talented Yuliya Vysotskaya. Plus, it's a true story. And it's got Bryan Adams (yes, THAT Bryan Adams!).
January 20, 2009
flixsterman
Randy Tippy

Super Reviewer

A very cliched view of a mental hospital that happens to get caught up in the Russian-Chechen war. Occasionally amusing war humour and an impressive helicopter crash is all this movie has to offer.
February 15, 2007
RossCollinsUK

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • House of Fools (Dom durakov) (DE)
  • House of Fools (Dom durakov) (UK)
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