House of Fools

Name: House of Fools
Genre: Drama
Released: April 25, 2003
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 52
Cast: Bryan Adams, Sultan Islamov, Yuliya Vysotskaya

2003

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Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Classics | Release Date: April 25, 2003 | R

Starring: Bryan Adams, Sultan Islamov, Yuliya Vysotskaya

Summary: Based on real events, this film tells the story of the patients in a Russian psychiatric asylum who become involved with the Chechen War after their doctors, nurses and attendants abandon them.

Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 min

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Critic Reviews

Andrew O'Hehir

The thing is, it works. Or at least it works for me. I left the theater convinced that House of Fools is Konchalovsky's best work in almost 20 years (which it is) and that it might be something close to a masterpiece. Read full review

Michael Wilmington

A humane and fantastic work, and it touches us precisely because Konchalovsky shows the reality of both the soldiers and the madhouse inmates. His movie is just what he intended: a nightmare that speaks the truth. Read full review

Roger Ebert

The masterstroke is the use of Bryan Adams, who seems like a joke when he first appears (the movie knows this), but is used by Konchalovsky in such a way that eventually be becomes the embodiment of the ability to imagine and dream--an ability, the movie implies, that's the only thing keeping these crazy people sane. Read full review

Keith Phipps

Never finds any forward momentum, but Vysotskaya's sweet performance and the unsubtle but effective use of the war-torn asylum as a stand-in for the former USSR keep it compelling. Read full review

Deborah Young

Has the comically grotesque appeal of a Fellini film and could reach out to auds in specialized release. It lacks the originality and invention to go much beyond that. Read full review

Marta Barber

House of Fools is not in the category of the director's acclaimed "Runaway Train." It may be based on a true story, but another filmmaker told it before -- and better. Read full review

Stanley Kauffmann

His (writer/director Konchalovsky's) plunge into the world of mental distortion is so garish, so exploitative, that the picture needs only a few clicks of the dial to move from the horrible to the ludicrous Read full review

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