Intruder Alert!

“The Intruder” is a film that turns out to be an exercise in wasted potential, which is a shame because it has such a promising cast lineup.  Deon Taylor directed this piece written by David Loughery. Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, and Meagan Good star in this thriller about a young couple who purchase a lovely country house from a reluctant seller who has some mild psychotic tendencies.

Scott and Annie Howard are a gorgeous couple living in the big city somewhere in California.  It is probably Los Angeles, but somehow I ended up not being sure.  They purchase a pretty cool house in Napa Valley from a man named Charlie Peck, however Mr. Peck is having some trouble taking a hint.

There is no shortage of charisma and talent among the cast.  The credibility and some semblance of believability is the writing is where the trouble lies. For example, poor Annie!  Talk about a gorgeous woman who is a bit slow on the uptake about the potential trouble she and her husband are about to land in with Quaid’s Charlie Peck.  Her lack of suspicion so far into the film in spite of her husband’s growing sense of unease was a bit hard to buy into, considering she doesn’t come off as an idiot in other aspects of her role.

There also could have been better development in the background and explanation of some of these characters.  This was another film that sort of rushed up to and through the climax with what seemed to be a lack of detail as to how these people got to that point.

There were some pretty good moments of unsettling scares at times though.  I am not sure I have seen Dennis Quaid play a psycho before, but he seemed to be enjoying himself here.  He’s a talented guy, so he was able to keep me engaged and in suspense as to what shenanigans his character was going to pull next.

The other issue is that we have seen this similar setup so often before on the big screen.  There was a lack of originality that is rather hard to overlook and forgive in spite of the decent performances and attractive scenery.

I have seen considerably worse in my vast cinematic indulgences over the years, but this could have been better considering the talent that was on hand.  In the end, it’s another movie that is unlikely to leave a lasting impression either way other than these thoughts being transmitted out for Internet consumption.