House Arrest

1996
PG
1h 48m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

9.4K

YOUR RATING

Jamie Lee Curtis, Jennifer Tilly, Caroline Aaron, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Christopher McDonald, Kevin Pollak, Wallace Shawn, Mooky Arizona, Herbert Russell, Kyle Howard, Sheila McCarthy, Amy Sakasitz, Alex Seltz-Wald, Harry Winer, and Josh Wolford in House Arrest (1996)

A group of children, desperate to keep their various parents from getting divorces, kidnap them and hold them prisoner in a basement in order to force them to reconcile.

Play trailer2:24

1 Video

99+ Photos

Slapstick Comedy Family

Desperate to keep their various parents from getting divorced, a group of teenagers kidnaps them and holds them prisoner in a basement to force them to reconcile.Desperate to keep their various parents from getting divorced, a group of teenagers kidnaps them and holds them prisoner in a basement to force them to reconcile.Desperate to keep their various parents from getting divorced, a group of teenagers kidnaps them and holds them prisoner in a basement to force them to reconcile.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

9.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Videos1

Trailer 2:24

Official Trailer

Photos212

+ 205

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Billy Crystal, Tom Hanks and Bill Murray were considered for the role of Ned Beindorf.

Goofs
Stacey's nail gun would require air pressure to make it work. There is no air hose hooked to it, making it impossible to use.

Quotes
[to their parents]
Matt Finley: Just one thing, we don't take sociology.
T.J. Krupp: You guys should pay more attention.

Crazy credits
As the closing credits roll, we are shown the various family members in Hawaii hula-dancing, often in native garb or something close to it, singly and in various combinations. The footage ends with Chief Rocco (Ray Walston) stumbling out of some bushes with a set of night-vision goggles with which he tries to observe the rest of the cast (in full daylight).

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Tin Cup/House Arrest/Killer: A Journal of Murder/Alaska/Butterfly Kiss (1996)

Soundtracks
Love Will Keep Us Together
Written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield
Published by Entco Music
Performed by Captain & Tennille
Courtesy of A&M Records

User reviews35

Review

Featured review

6/10

It's unlikely that the events in 'House Arrest' would ever happen, but the film is still frothy and fun...

House Arrest

Two kids are shocked when their parents announce that they are separating. As a last resort, the siblings decide to lock them in the basement and not let them out until their marital problems are solved. However, the friends of the children soon find out about what they are up to, and force their parents into the basement as well. Will the group of couples be able to sort out their relationships, or is this just one really bad plan gone wrong?

Okay, first of all, it's unlikely that the events in 'House Arrest' would ever happen, but the film is still frothy and fun. Even though some of the acting is highly irritating, the children (apart from the main guy) are very funny, as is Jamie Lee Curtis. While everything about the film is far too predictable and safe (even for a family film), there's an energy about the production that is impossible to resist. A guilty pleasure.

~ 6/10 ~