Review: The House: Ferrell's backs a loser in a comedy that lacks consistency!

Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler play Scott and Kate Johansen a married couple who must figure out a way to earn some money after their daughter's scholarship falls through. When all else fails, the desperate couple join forces with their neighbor Frank (Jason Mantzoukas) to start an underground casino in his home. As the cash pours in and the good times roll, Scott and Kate soon learn that they may have bitten off more than they can chew.
With a comedy that combines two of Hollywood's funniest actors in Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, in a film written and directed by the brains behind Bad Neighbours about a scheme that revolves around a couple running an illegal casino with their down on his luck wacky friend and you would imagine that you have all the ingredients for a top notch comedy film! Sadly, in this instance you do not!
The movie is even aided by a rich comedic cast that all do their utmost to add fun and frolics to a film that undoubtedly fails to deliver as much laughs as it should.
It's not that the film is terrible, (there are a few of quite funny gags throughout!) it's just that the hit to miss ratio is largely one-sided with miss the most definite winner and when gags eventually do land the movie fails to pick up on the momentum and raise proceeding to a higher level!
Another problem is that all these great comedic actors have been typecast on such a regular basis that in this film we get Will Ferrell playing a diluted version of his Old School character Frank the Tank, Poehler as her Parks and Recs character Leslie Knope and Mantzoukas basically playing the same role he has done in any comedy he has ever featured in!
There are also a lot of weak support characters within the film that fail to endear themselves to the audience comedic or otherwise and just come across as a litte jaded, with the main characters carrying most of the satirical weight!
Fans of Ferrell and some of his SNL compatriots will find enough within this caper to be entertained for the ninety minute running time but still lament yet another missed opportunity in what is an exciting premise, with good actors but is ultimately let down by poor writing and lack of real execution! Average!
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