The Intruder focuses on Scott and Annie - played by Michael Ealy and Meagan Good, respectively - a married couple who recently bought a new house in Napa Valley. The previous owner, Charlie - played by Dennis Quaid - who had been in the house for quite some time prior to selling to them, stops by frequently to check in on the couple and insistently offer them advice on how to manage the property. This begins to make the couple feel uncomfortable, and what soon begins as a friendly dropping-by turns into something much more sinister.
A film like this one feels like it should have been made back in the early 2000s, where it would have been an even bigger hit with audiences, when plenty of films of a similar nature were being made. It’s an ultra-serious thriller that’s filled with scenes of over-the-top blasting R&B music played during PG-13 sex scenes that feel like something out of a cheap MTV program. All this takes place in between moments meant to build up suspense and thrills, as this couple is tormented by this one man.
Yet, The Intruder takes itself way more seriously than it ever should, especially due to the fact that its ridiculous premise and illogical character choices really do as much as they can to push the audience’s suspension of disbelief to absurd limits. Though the only one who seems to have caught on to just how ludicrous this movie is Dennis Quaid, who is by far the highlight of this film. His performance is absurdly over-the-top and is almost too enjoyable to belong in this movie, as he channels the energy of Jack Nicholson in The Shining and hones in on the sillier aspects of that character.
Though Quaid seems to be the only one in on the joke, and the rest of the movie really tries to sell itself as a legitimately engaging thriller, but there are so many things blatantly done wrong here that it becomes laughably bad to watch. As the film goes on, Quaid exhibits increasingly unstable behavior that would have been enough to seriously raise a red flag with others after the first time it’s shown. Yet, the only way this film is allowed to keep going is solely reliant on the fact that Megan Good’s character feels bad for him.
And she gives this guy way too many chances. The way in which he constantly appears unannounced, and gets into heated, inappropriate arguments with the couples friends would be enough for anyone else to see he needs some serious help. Yet, she keeps excusing what he does scene after scene, simply repeating the fact that she “feels bad” for him. And seeing as how she never learns her lesson, it becomes nearly impossible for anyone to feel bad for her, seeing as how she openly welcomes the obvious danger, and has no right to be as shocked when things go as south as they do.
However, Michael Ealy’s character is no saint, either. While he does see right through Quaid, and tells Good not to let him back in the house, he does little to really ensure that he’s prevented from entering the home. Not only does he really do a great job securing the house, but other than one brief mention when it’s too little too late, he never even bothers to file a restraining order against this guy who’s clearly dangerous and out of his mind. While by default he’s the more level-headed of the two for at least seeing the obvious, he’s ultimately unsympathetic for just how poorly he tries to prevent it.
It becomes so easy to chastise these two characters that one almost begins rooting for Quaid, as it becomes quite fun to see just how badly these two characters’ total disregard of logic will backfire on them. And it’s not like they were exactly enjoyable characters to follow from the beginning. These two are poorly characterized, and any attempts this movie makes to give them any sort of unique backstory are also laughably horrible. There’s a random backstory involving Scott’s hatred of guns that’s only sporadically mentioned when the movie feels like bringing attention to it. Meanwhile, there’s also a subplot involving Scott having an affair that’s touched upon enough to have quite a few scenes devoted to it, only to be dropped about halfway through and go absolutely nowhere, feeling like it was only placed to pad the runtime to 100 minutes.
The Intruder is a completely silly film that takes itself way too seriously, and instead falls into “so bad it’s good” territory. The premise is absurd, the character choices are illogical, and by the end of it, one almost roots for the two characters to get what’s coming to them. The only one who seemed to get how ridiculous the film was is Dennis Quaid, who gives a suitably over-the-top performance that helps make this movie enjoyable, even if for all the wrong reasons.
Recommendation: Watch It (Because It’s So Bad It’s Good)
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