THE PERFECT HOST Review

[With The Perfect Host beginning a limited US theatrical run on Friday we revisit Hugo Ozman's previous review.]

THE PERFECT HOST is a clever little thriller. John Taylor (Clayne Crawford) has just robbed a bank and injured his foot during the escape. He manages to con his way into the house of Warwick Wilson (David Hyde Pierce). As it turns out, however, Wilson is not quite the defenceless host that he appears to be, and Taylor soon finds himself struggling in his attempts to overpower and outwit Wilson.

The film is Australian director and screenwriter Nick Tomnay's feature film debut. Mostly taking place in Wilson's house, the film works thanks to Tomnay's slick direction and his cast's superb acting. Clayne Crawford gives a decent performance, but is perhaps not menacing enough in his portrayal of the bank robber. He is easily outshone by David Hyde Pierce, whose performance as the house owner is best described as manic. Pierce literally goes nuts with his role and is just so much fun to watch.

The film begins to get really interesting when viewers discover that Warwick is a bit of a madman, but it does get tired in the middle act as the recurrent plots become repetitive. Also, the many flashback scenes do not add much to the film and are rather distracting. Fortunately, the filmmakers have saved some of the biggest twists for the final 15-20 minutes of the movie, which despite requiring a certain degree of suspension of disbelief, offer a nice change in the direction of the narrative and lead to an ending that pretty neatly ties everything together.

Overall, THE PERFECT HOST is a witty, darkly comic and enjoyable film, with David Hyde Pierce's brilliant performance alone being worth the price of admission.

 

THE PERFECT HOST is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Pinnacle Films, and will be available on DVD from August 2011.

 

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Pinnacle Films