House of Fools

R

Released Apr 25, 2003

1h 44m

Comedy

Drama

List

41%

Tomatometer

49 Reviews

82%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

Believing her fiance is singer Bryan Adams (Bryan Adams), a psychiatric patient (Yuliya Vysotskaya) falls in love with a Chechen soldier (Sultan Islamov).

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Critics Consensus

House of Fools has a potentially intriguing fact-based story to tell, but an insensitive approach to depicting mental illness undermines its effectiveness.

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Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

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

Rated: 3/5

Aug 29, 2003

Full Review

Marta Barber

Miami Herald

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

Rated: 2/4

Aug 22, 2003

Full Review

Chris Vognar

Dallas Morning News

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.

Rated: C-

Jul 11, 2003

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Sep 11, 2005

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Tiresome!

Rated: C-

Oct 28, 2003

Full Review

Steve Schneider

Orlando Weekly

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

Rated: 3/5

Aug 29, 2003

Full Review

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thomas l

In turns, fun, strange and sad, 'House of Fools', a movie about an Insane Aslum in the middle of a Chechen war, asks the following question: Who is crazier, the soldiers or the patients? The true insight is the other patients missing from the asylum, the critics that gave it a bad review.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Surrealism in the face of horror. Shades of Catch-22.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tears down convention while simultaneously indulging clichés and ultimately pushing the line so far as to blur it completely.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good film. Yes, probably, the world at times is more mad than the mad house... but having said that, I have never found the mad house a mad place... that's just me perhaps...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The first 3/4 of the movie is great. The performances are stellar and the story is engaging, it's funny and tragic at the same time. Unfortunately, towards the end the movie feels rushed and heavy handed.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Kinda true, in a fictional narrative sense. A woman's obsession with Bryan Adams while maintaining enough intellect to run the asylum without official leaders being assistance for the patients. It's a film that is enjoyable and very quirky. It is overall decent.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

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Andrey Konchalovskiy

Director

Bryan Adams

Self

Sultan Islamov

Akhmed

Yuliya Vysotskaya

Zhanna

Vladas Bagdonas

Doctor

Stanislav Varkki

Ali

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Synopsis

Believing her fiance is singer Bryan Adams (Bryan Adams), a psychiatric patient (Yuliya Vysotskaya) falls in love with a Chechen soldier (Sultan Islamov).

Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy
Screenwriter: Andrey Konchalovskiy
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Bac Films, Persona Films, Hachette Première
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 25, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $57.7K
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)