The Intruder
The B-list black thriller is a staple of the summer. Big name black stars in terrifyingly “realistic” situations have graced our screens in the hottest months of the year for some time now. Last year’s Traffik and Breaking In followed in the footsteps of films such as 2009’s Obsessed. So, when The Intruder was set for release in May of this year, I marked my calendar.
I like seeing these films in the theaters because of the feelings that they tend to invoke. These films aren’t winning Academy Awards but they are a wonderful way to spend an afternoon when you want to turn off your brain and hear a stray “What the hell are you doing?” or “Ya’ll stupid as hell.” As you watch these characters face a real person and not something supernatural, it’s almost instinctual to yell at them to be smarter. And I could scream at the screen myself but it’s always funnier when a stranger does it for me.
Scott (Michael Ealy) and Annie (Meagan Good) are a couple ready to start a family and looking to get away from the noise of San Francisco. And luckily for them, Charlie (Dennis Quaid) is motivated to sell his Napa Valley home so that he can move to Florida to be with his daughter, or so we’re told. Annie falls in love with the house instantly but Scott is a little slower to come around. Nevertheless, they pay the slightly reduced $3.3 million-dollar asking price and move in quickly
The film wastes no time showing just how much of a nuisance Charlie is going to be and how much his presence lingers over the house for Scott. As Charlie’s visits to the couple’s new home become more frequent, and more spontaneous, the less Scott trusts him and the less Annie is convinced. Scott voices his suspicions of Charlie early and often but Annie can’t help but let him back into the house. Even when Annie finally tells Scott that she believes him, it doesn’t seem to click with her until she’s faced with it directly.
The film takes all of the logical (lol) bad thriller steps to build to the final confrontation and it’s a fun journey to the end. All of the actors here are serviceable and play their roles well but it is Quaid who truly shines. It’s always entertaining to watch an actor have fun on screen and as Charlie’s crazy amps up you can tell that Quaid has bought in completely. Though this takes away from the “thrills” of the movie, as everything is telegraphed from the start.
Directed by Deon Taylor and written by David Loughery, The Intruder is in the capable hands of black thriller veterans and thus has checked the box for everything you expect to see in a film like this. An overly skeptical spouse? Check. Bad jump scares? Check. A ridiculous plot that isn’t meant to make you laugh but does anyway? Double check. If you’re looking for something new to watch and you haven’t gotten your weeks’ worth of yelling in yet then this may be the film for you.
I give it 1.5 out of 5 trash cans.
