The idea behind THE PERFECT HOST — part dark comedy and part suspense thriller — is a clever one: a street tough (a one-note Clayne Crawford) menaces a well-mannered victim (Henry Hyde Pierce basically reprising his role as Frasier’s Nigel), only for the "wimp" to turn the tables and reveal himself as a psychopath.
Pierce's antics are amusingly offbeat, such as when his staid nerd Warwick (with a silent second w) joins a conga line or leads a choreographed dance scene from atop his dinner table. But his violent acts against a wailing captive stifle any laughter. It doesn't help that neither he nor his prisoner are remotely likeable: an issue that leaves the filmmakers unable to engage the audience. The pace is slow and the plot points often predictable, all of which results is an uneven mishmash of SEVEN, MISERY and Frasier turned (maybe dropped) on its head. And so, despite its wonderful potential, this party's a bust.
The film begins with a badly bleeding career criminal, John Taylor, staggering away from a bank robbery gone off plan. The radio blares a description of his getaway car, so he ditches the vehicle and seeks a hiding place until the mayhem subsides. After he strikes out trying to weasel his way into the first suburban LA home he comes to, he wins entre into the neighbor's place.
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