OUR HOUSE (UK) aka DUPLEX (USA)
Year: 2003
USA: Miramax
UK: Buena Vista International UK
Cast: Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux, James Remar, Robert Wisdom, Swoosie Kurtz, Wallace Shawn, Maya Rudolph, Amber Valletta, Cheryl Klein, Tim Maculan, Jackie Titone, Eugene Lazarev, Kumar Pallana, Phillip Perlman, Gary Riotto, Michelle Krusiec, Margie Loomis, Linda Porter, Edward Edwards, Louis Giambalvo, Tracey Walter, John Hamburg, Christina Kirk, Jenette Goldstein, Leyna Nguyen, Chuma Hunter-Gault, Jim Castillo, Michael Fahn, Roberta R Deen, Christopher Doyle, Christine La Fontaine, Joey Banks, Geraldine Hughes
Director: Danny DeVito
Country: USA
UK: 89 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for sexual content, language and some violence
UK Certificate: 12A contains moderate language and sex references
USA Release Date: 26 September 2003
UK Release Date: 30 April 2004
Synopsis
When a young couple buys their dream home, they don't expect their elderly upstairs tenant to be an issue...until the shenanigans of the abnormally resilient old woman put the couple through a crash course of bizarre and lunatic landlord obligations. OUR HOUSE aka DUPLEX is the hilarious new comedy about the couple who thought they were getting all they wanted - but end up getting more than they bargained for.
In terms of living the American Dream, Alex (Ben Stiller) and Nancy (Drew Barrymore) have it pretty good. They're a young, vibrant couple in New York City with bright futures ahead of them. Nancy works for a prestigious magazine, Alex is working on his second book and most importantly, they have each other. But one thing is missing: a home of their own.
That is, until their realtor (Harvey Fierstein) leads them to Brooklyn where they unexpectedly find their dream house: a charming old Our House. It's perfect. Beautifully appointed, caringly refurbished; it's a gem. Alex and Nancy will have to dip a lot further into their savings than they had planned, but who can resist two floors, a butler's pantry, and three fireplaces with the original glass tiles?
But their new home comes with one feature they didn't expect: an upstairs rent-controlled tenant named Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essell). In light of her advanced age and apparent poor health, Alex and Nancy figure the inconvenience of this sweet old lady will only be temporary.
However, dear Mrs. Connelly isn't quite as easy going or frail as Alex and Nancy originally anticipated. Her slow trickle of demands picks up in a steady volume until Alex and Nancy are running themselves ragged fixing, attending, reassuring, and putting more time and energy into their tenant than humanly imaginable. As their blissful life begins to seriously fray around the edges, their dream home is anything but. It's then they start to realize: all's fair in love, war and real estate.