User reviews

Totally hilarious comedy with the adorable Goldie superbly playing a con artist who b.s.'s her way into the lives of a group of complete strangers, upsetting the existence of many and enriching others. One of Goldie's and Martin's best.

Steve Martin plays Newton Davis, a big city architect, whose marriage proposal is turned down by his childhood sweetheart Becky (Dana Delany). His proposal included a dream house, which has been sitting empty ever since. But after sharing a one night stand with Gwen, a waitress with a knack for telling lies. Gwen eventually moves into the empty house and convinces the neighbors, including Davis' parents and Becky, that she's his wife. When Davis arrives, he formulates a plan to use Gwen and their fake marriage to win back Becky.

Sure. the plot sounds a little crass, but the actors make it work to a certain degree. Martin, basically playing his 'American everyman' role with a flair for physical comedy, gets some laughs as Davis. But Hawn steals the show, it's her spawn of lies and the sweetness of her character that elevates this movie from being your standard sitcom. But, in spite of the acting, the movie still suffers from a script that lacks a real comedic punch. Too often recycled gags, like Newton's uptight parents and jerk boss, are used to strain humor into otherwise bland proceedings. A movie like this could have used new ideas. (6/10)

I loved reading the reviews of this lovely movie. Its a quaint, almost old fashioned film. The kind of film you loved with people like Cary Grant and Doris Day etc. Its genuinely funny. The chemistry with Martin and Hawn is perfect and its a pity they did not do more together. Goldie is a great talent and you really find her so adorable. Steve Martin needs a good actor to bounce off. I always preferred him in stand up but in this with Goldie he is wonderful. The chemistry between Martin and Goldie has not been repeated and thats a shame. Its very rare to find it in a modern film. There is one scene I find hilarious. I laugh myself silly every time I see it and thats the scene when Martin sings for the old soldier "Tooraloohraloora". I don't know why I find it so funny but I think its one of my favourite moments in a film. I wont explain the details as it would ruin it for people who have not seen the film but its side splitingly funny. There are plenty of nice moments in the film. Oh and I LOVE the house!!

My wife wanted to watch this so I reluctantly joined her. It turned out to be a decent comedy. Both Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn played their roles well. Martin is an architect who builds this new house, and Goldie Hawn is this kind of con artist who worms her way into living there, and eventually pretending that she is his wife.

They are both really great with tales. The way they could spin stories on the fly to any and everyone was just fun to watch. Had me laughing pretty regularly. Also, since we live in MA, we kept trying to guess what city/cities they used for Dobbs Mills town. The architecture firm owner, don't know his name, was also very good. Dana Delancy plays this spiffy preppy woman, and I really didn't like her that much, which I think means she did an OK job. It was hard to figure out if the Director was trying to get you to root for her or for Goldie Hawn.

Anyhow, it comes in at 90 minutes and I would recommend it to catch Martin and Hawn when they were still young enough to pull this off. Enjoy.

I have heard about HOUSESITTER for years because it's aired at least once a year on two different TV channels where they air only movies all day and despite it's an overplayed movie I kinda avoided it. Last May I finally saw it and found it merely ok.

Newton Davis (Steve Martin) is a frustrated architect that hasn't success in his job nor his personal life. He built a perfect house for he and his college sweetheart Becky (Dana Delany) but after her refusal he felt bad. He then tells his story to a Hungarian barmaid and when he goes out of the bar he meets the woman again: her name is Gwen (Goldie Hawn), is an American and just faked to be Hungarian. After a night together Gwen manages to improve Newton's life by simply posing as his wife, and Newton will also restore the relationship with his parents. But then Gwen will notice that Newton fell in the trap, and he'll invent some stories like she did with him and they finally end together.

While I am not a fan of Steve Martin I found him mildly funny in the few movies I saw of his. Here he was ok, his usual self: same goes for Goldie Hawn as the con artist that kinda changes Newton's life for good. As for the rest, I thought that the pace in some points was slow and there weren't that many funny moments as I expected.

In substance, if you hear that it's aired on TV and you don't have anything better to watch give it a try and if you are in the right mood you'll get a kick out of it.

This film is very funny....the teaming of Martin and Hawn proved an hilarious combination. Both actor's are accomplished in the comedy department and this is no surprise why this film works (well for me it does). Gwen (Hawn's character) cons her way into the life of Martin's...simply by using her wonderful imagination. After meeting him while working, she has a one night fling with him and somehow decides she wants to live in his newly built house. The only problem is Newton Davis (Martin's character) has no clue to what she's up to. The tricky predicaments she places Martin and herself in, are a treat to watch....a zany, clever comedy in my opinion. Please don't be misled by the rating on IMDb, because it really is an injustice....it is an enjoyable movie.

My vote 8/10.

Steve Martin is his usual uptight wacko and Goldie Hawn is her usual ditsy blonde in this story of a screwy woman invading an architect's life. Martin and Hawn are the perfect comic teaming (it's surprising that they didn't co-star earlier), and there are some great scenes here. If one thing's for certain, we can pretty much always guarantee that Frank Oz will turn in a good movie as a director (he truly does here). So check it out. You might just feel like building your own house after watching it. Also starring Dana Delany, Julie Harris and Peter MacNicol.

Yeah, that was a good ethics lesson in that one scene.

This is a lovely, easy-watching family film. Typical early nineties romcom with plenty of scope for both Hawn and Martin's particular brands of humour. Goldie Hawn is always nice to watch, and Steve Martin is always golden doing comedy and this isn't an exception. There were shades of Gil Buckman (his character in Parenthood) in this, which is one of my favourite films, and he was pretty flawless in this role too. Martin plays Newton Davis, an architect who's down on his luck in life and love, a bit downtrodden, and by chance he meets "Gwen" (Hawn) a pretty waitress who it soon turns out is a bit of a teller of tall tales. She uses him as a hook to con her way into an ideal life for herself, by posing as his new wife in his home town, and of course it's funny, sweet, and more than a little bit silly. The blagging is improbable, but perhaps in a small town you could pull it off and you sort of admire her guts and determination! Really nice supporting cast including Donald Moffat and Julie Harris as Martin's parents.

There's nothing unpredictable in this, no surprises; it is what it is, a nice film where you laugh a bit and feel good at the end. The film is as infectious as Goldie Hawn's smile, and Steve Martin's eyebrows! Enjoy.

Wonderful bit of fluff, especially compared to the crude, dark or 'edgy' drek that predominates these days. Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin are great together. They should team up more often. Kudos to the writer, Mark Stein. The lies made up by compulsive liars in this film are especially imaginative.

Architect Newton Davis (Steve Martin) built his dream house and proposes to Becky Metcalf (Dana Delany). The only problem is she says No. After an one night stand with waitress Gwen Phillips (Goldie Hawn), she cons her way into the empty dream house, and into the hearts of the town folks including Becky and Davis' parents. When Davis comes back to the house and finds Gwen, Davis is surprised that Becky now looks at him with a better light. So Davis agrees to continue with Gwen's deceptions if she would follow his scheme to get Becky back.

It's just not that funny. Goldie Hawn may have been good for the role 10 years earlier. She would make all the lying cute. But it's just mostly sad and distasteful. I hate to say it, but she's too old to play the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. The scheming has some legs and is kinda cute, but it's hard to root for it. Dana Delany does a nice good girl and has one funny moment with Steve Martin. But it's just too little to make a difference.

all i can say is that, this is my all time favorite movie and i dont know what but there is something great about this film. goldie hawn stars as gwen, a conartist who happens to stumble along the newly built house of newton davis after a one night stand in boston. it truly brings out the great giggly goldie hawn's humor and steve martin is at his best, they work great together. i give this film an 11/10. dont rent it... buy it! trust me on this one.

The plot to "HouseSitter" makes no sense and there are lots of plot holes with the film. Despite this, the film is enjoyable and fun.

The story begins with Davis (Steve Martin) showing off a house he built for himself and his new wife-to-be, Becky (Dana Delany). Unfortunately, when he shows it to her and asks her to marry him, she rejects him...and Davis spends the next several months in a funk, feeling sorry for himself.

A bit later, Davis notices a waitress at a Hungarian restaurant and he ends up walking her home. Gwen (Goldie Hawn) is pretty aggressive and soon the pair are in bed for a one night stand. When she awakens, he's gone. Now what would any normal woman do in this situation? Well, they certainly would NOT do what Gwen does!!

Gwen makes her way to that house that Davis designed and because he is sulking, he's living in an apartment in the city...not this lovely house he designed. Her plan is to live there...at least until she's discovered. But her plan gets weirder. When she wants groceries, she claims that she is Davis' new wife in order to get credit....and soon the small town is abuzz talking about Davis' new wife. The lies don't stop there and mount up...and she eventually even goes to Davis' parents to tell them she is married to their son!!! Where does all this go next? Well, it doesn't make any sense....but it still oddly satisfying by the end of the film.

The film works because although the plot idea is dumb, the acting is good and the film manages to work. But don't say I didn't warn you about the plot...it really is silly and not especially believable!

This is a charming, light, sweet screwball comedy, with an excellent ensemble cast all wonderful in their roles. Goldie Hawn beautifully plays a charming, off-beat con artist, whose pathological lying and skewed take on reality unwittingly lead her to bring about genuine love and kindness. Along the way, she reunites a family; sheds light on the old flame of her "victim" Steve Martin (exposing the motivations of the woman who broke his heart); and creates two new families proving that, in the movies at least, you may be able to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Both Hawn and Martin excel in their roles and they work really well together. Hawn's kooky and lovable small con-artist is perfect against Martin's straight laced conservative architect and the strange double life they have to lead, due to their constant lies, makes for an entertaining story. They are ably supported by a great cast of character actors and the character combinations make for some great scenes.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

'HouseSitter', despite its flaws, is Good Fun! A light-hearted comedy, that is meant for all ages.

'HouseSitter' Synopsis: Con artist Gwen moves into Newton's empty house without his knowledge, and begins setting up house posing as his new wife.

'HouseSitter' is overall a pleasant comedy, but a slow first-hour plays a spoilsport. Its the second-hour, where all the fun begins & the laughs come in, with a rib-tickling culmination. The first-hour needed to be faster & funnier, for sure.

Mark Stein's Screenplay doesn't begin in the right mood, but picks up in the second-hour & delivers a lot of laughs. Frank Oz's Direction, as always, is perfect. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are excellent.

Performance-Wise: Goldie Hawn & Steve Martin are delightful, as always. Hawn is spontaneous all through, while Martin dominates the show with his impeccable sense of comic-timing. Dana Delany is proficient. Julie Harris & Donald Moffat are first-rate. Richard B. Shull is fantastic.

On the whole, 'HouseSitter' is a decent watch.

Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin bring everything typical from their humour together and create this easy watching, spiralling out of control, predictable, slightly likeable comedy.

An architect has a fling with a sexy waitress who turns out to be a con-artist; she insinuates herself into his life and home and passes herself off as his wife to visitors. Relatively painless, genial comedy from director Frank Oz is sort of the comedic flip-side to "Fatal Attraction"--though the way Goldie Hawn plays the con-woman, she's more of a kooky flake than a comedy threat. Still, Steve Martin puts up with her for the sake of the plot, which is just an idea stretched to feature length. The more sobering moments of the third act seem to come out of nowhere; while a little dramatic subtext is surely substantial, I'm not quite certain how seriously Oz and his actors are actually taking it--or, for that matter, how seriously they want audiences to respond. ** from ****

Struggling Boston architect Steve Martin (as Newton Davis) is upset when grade-school sweetheart Dana Delany (as Becky Metcalf) won't get married and move into his dream house. The blindfolded woman later reveals she didn't like the big red ribbon wrapped around the house. Later, at a Hungarian diner, Mr. Martin flirts with ditzy blonde waitress Goldie Hawn (as Gwen Phillips), walks her home and asks to use her telephone. As it turns out, Ms. Hawn can't afford a phone; instead, she offers to have sex with Martin. The copulate. After he leaves, Hawn decides to move into Martin's dream house and pretend to be his wife...

Martin returns as Hawn is introducing herself to his family and friends and, for reasons of his own, decides to go along with the deception...

Where this all goes won't have you guessing for long, but it is funny. A modern story and good direction by Frank Oz succeeds in freshening up Hawn and Martin, who are really a little too seasoned for their characters. He gets to trip over a couch and she gets to show off a well-rounded posterior. His parents are played by the wonderful Julie Harris and Donald Moffat, which is a huge plus. Her parents are played by the delightful Richard B. Shull and Laurel Cronin, who turn out to be surprisingly hilarious. Every scene with any of the parents lifts the situation far above its worth. Down the line, the casting shines.

******* HouseSitter (6/12/92) Frank Oz ~ Goldie Hawn, Steve Martin, Dana Delany, Julie Harris

With director Frank Oz re-teaming with Steve Martin, this should had been funnier but at best is watchable and dull. Worse we rarely see Martin doing anything funny.

Martin plays Newton Davis, an architect who has built his own dream house which he hoped to share with childhood sweetheart Becky (Dana Delany.) Unfortunately Becky has turned down his proposal for marriage leaving Newton to mope about.

After sharing his troubles after a party in New York to a Hungarian waitress called Gwen (Goldie Hawn) that leads to a one night stand. Newton finds that Gwen has crashed into his life, entered his small hometown, into his dream house spinning a tissue of lies including telling people that they are married which Newton goes along with hoping he can win back Becky.

The plot is rather preposterous and far fetched. It is hard to take Newton's friends and family being taken in by his and Gwen's sudden relationship.

What is more Steve Martin is rather too old to be playing a single man presumably in his 40s trying to woo his childhood sweetheart to marry him. You mean after all these years he and Becky never even lived together?