The Guest (2014) Movie Review
Rating 5/10
The Guest started out fairly good. It had an Indie movie feel and a few recognizable actors. I was intrigued and thought this may be better than expected. It progressed well enough, kept you wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. That is when it started to go downhill for me. I had it as an 8 in my rating scale until about half way through… then the points started to drop because of implausibility and over-the-top situations. I can give movies a little leeway in plausibility, but once they cross the line and insult my intelligence, I start to lose interest. The Guest crossed that line for me…. and it started so well.
IMDB rated 6.8 — synopsis: A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.
Dan Stevens played the lead role as The Guest (David) and was good in this role. It was the writers that let him down. Maika Monroe played Anna, the daughter and did a decent job. You may recognize both of these actors but not know their names. The most recognizable for me was the dad played by Leland Orser whose credits include the TV series Revolution. Sheila Kelley played the wife, who you may recognize from the TV show Lost and several other movies and shows.
All in all the cast did a fine job but the script was pretty bad. Smarter writing of the 2nd half would have made this a decent movie… maybe even a 7 or 8 rating. Unless you are desperate for something to watch and don’t mind violence, blood, and weak ending, I’d say “Skip it.”
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