houseguest n : a guest entertained in your house [syn: house guest]

English

Etymology

From house + guest.

Noun

1. A person who visits and stays at someone else's house, usually for one or more nights.

   We had houseguests for weeks after the wedding.

Synonyms

• guest

Houseguest is a 1995 feature film starring Sinbad and Phil Hartman. The film's director was Randall Miller.

Plot

The movie centers on a happy-go-lucky Pittsburgh inner-city native named Kevin Franklin (Sinbad). Raised in an orphanage, he's often thought of having delusions of grandeur when he talks about getting rich and driving a Porsche.

Fast-forward to 25 years later. Kevin does have a Porsche...dented and rusted out as he demonstrates his poor abilities in parallel parking. Kevin's ambitions to get rich have yet to yield positive results, as most of his efforts involve get-rich-quick schemes. One of them involves a handshake loan of $50,000 to the mob, to whom he still owes. After being caught by the mobsters trying to skip town at Pittsburgh International Airport, he overhears a conversation between advertising executive Gary Young (Hartman) and two of his children.

Franklin hears Young say that he is waiting for his friend who is a black man, and whom he hasn't seen in 25 years. Taking the opportunity, Franklin decides to pose as the man that Young had come to pick up. The man that Franklin ends up posing as is a well known, strait-laced, vegetarian dentist named Derek Bond. Franklin manages to intercept Bond at the airport, and concocts a story credible enough to convince Bond to wear Franklin's ball cap, which the mobsters see from a distance, and thinking it's Franklin, immediately pummel him and realize he's the wrong person. By the time this is figured out, Franklin and Young have gone to Young's posh home in Sewickley Heights.

Knowing nothing about dentistry, Franklin's affable personality still manages to convince those around him that he is in fact Derek Bond. He actually manages to bond with Young's children, including his goth daughter, and his young son, who has aspirations of playing pro basketball. Young has little time for his children, which gradually builds a bridge between them over time, largely due to the demands of his bigoted, arrogant boss (Mason Adams) at the advertising agency where he works.

The mob thugs manage to corner Kevin's best friend (Stan Shaw) Larry, and threaten to hurt him if he doesn't reveal his whereabouts. Franklin learns that they're onto him and flees, asking Larry to meet and pick him up. After Larry does so reluctantly, he sparks an argument with Kevin over his value of friendship. During the argument, Kevin hears the truth in his friend's words and asks him to take him back. At that time, the mobsters have taken the family hostage, and Kevin's true identity is revealed.

After the mobsters take Kevin away, he manages to escape. He manages to lose them in a charity marathon race, where he meets up with Gary. Gary's benevolence makes him realize that as Kevin has helped him, perhaps he can return the favor. Kevin reveals that he has an instant lottery ticket he purchased the previous day that gets him a $50,000 cash prize spin on a Saturday night TV show. Both try to escape until they're cornered at gunpoint by the mobsters. Kevin reluctantly gives up the ticket in exchange for the forgiveness of his debt.

The next scene cuts to in front of the Young family home, with Kevin this time parallel parking a shiny new red Porsche in front of the house. They both walk into the Young home, which appears to be a promotional party for Kevin's new best-seller book "Handbook for Houseguests", based on his experiences with the Young Family that finally pays off, presumably paid with support from the Youngs.

In a final note, the partygoers gather in front of the TV to see the mobsters spin the wheel for the jackpot. The wheel lands on $500.

Some scenes for the movie were shot on location at Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh's historic Hill District, downtown Pittsburgh and the Sewickley, Pennsylvania suburb.

Trivia

• Mobster Happy Marcelli is played by local Pittsburgh actor Don Brockett, best known for his role as Chef Brockett on Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Shortly after the release of "Houseguest", Brockett died of a heart attack. This was his final film role.

External links