Film review by Kevin Patterson
THE HOUSE OF YES Rating: *** (out of four) R, 1997 Director/Screenplay: Mark Waters Starring Cast: Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling
THE HOUSE OF YES is a vicious but hilarious black-comic satire of the American upper class, introducing us to a bizarre family whose isolation and obsession with the Kennedys has led to murder and an incestuous brother-sister relationship (the two of them seem to flirt by re-enacting JFK's death, complete with ketchup and macaroni to simulate blood and brains). Their snobbery and detachment is revealed by the appearance of Leslie (Tori Spelling), the fiancée of the elder son in the family, who is ridiculed by the daughter for being from Pennsylvania. All of this is pretty absurd, but the dialogue, adapted by Mark Waters from a play by Wendy MacLeod, is clever enough to disturb the audience and make them laugh at the same time. Make no mistake about it: THE HOUSE OF YES is cold-hearted, mean-spirited, and perverse. But as someone who normally despises all three of those qualities in a film, I found myself curiously entertained by all this.
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