So, I’m at a point where I no longer buy into the idea of a “guilty pleasure” anymore, especially with movies. Even if a movie has flaws (which most of them tend to), if there’s something that hits you – whether done as intended or not – then there’s at least some success, and nothing is more boring than trying to fit movies into good or bad boxes, when it’s usually a lot more complicated than that.
I mention this because if I had to bring up something that I would consider – at least, previously – a “guilty pleasure,” it would likely be the various low budget thrillers from Screen Gems we’ve gotten once a year or so since around the late 2000s. They center on black characters, often starring the likes of Michael Ealy, Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, Sanaa Lathan, and plenty of other laughably overqualified actors. Think movies like The Perfect Guy, When The Bough Breaks, and No Good Deed. They have simple premises, follow a pretty standard formula for the most part, and well…there’s a reason they tend to get negative reviews. However, they are always a blast to watch, especially when you’re with a crowd, and everyone is collectively screaming at the movie. They are so much fun that stuff like logic and plotting hardly ever registers.
The latest of this bunch is The Intruder, which is about as self-explanatory as a title can get. It follows a young married couple, Scott (Michael Ealy) and Annie (Meagan Good), who buy their dream home. However, the previous owner, Charlie (Dennis Quaid), doesn’t seem as keen to let go of the house as he initially let on.
The film starts with a bang, almost literally, as we’re given of the most delightfully over-the-top character introduction moments I’ve seen in recent years with Charlie literally running at the camera and pointing his shotgun at the camera before revealing that he’s killing a pretty little deer in front of the central couple looking to buy his house. It really sets the stage for how the film will play out, tonally speaking.
Logic tends to take a backseat with these kinds of movies, and this one especially relies on Annie having the worst possible instincts you would expect from a female character, who can hardly ever notice an issue with the walking, talking red flag that is Charlie, as he shows up time and time again despite having already sold his home, and claiming to go to Florida. If you’re a stickler for things like characters making ridiculous decisions, you’re gonna have a bad time, but for me, the lunacy is more than welcome.
It also helps that Dennis Quaid is absolutely going for broke here. Sure, Ealy is as charming as you’d expect, and Good is…good, but they ultimately play the straight man to Quaid’s wild card. He was out of control, and it was such a delight to watch him be as skeezy and weird as possible, mugging at the camera non-stop. I don’t know what would motivate such a prolific actor to take such a nothing of a role, but I am so glad he did and just went with it.
Director, Deon Taylor, and writer, David Loughery, clearly know how to stick to a rigid formula, which might work against the movie, but they have actors good enough to give the material some energy. The beats are all clearly laid out, and they know how to make a moment land. It’s not a particularly stylish movie, and it is by no means tightly constructed. There is a whole thread that digs into troubles that Scott and Annie have faced as a couple, but it doesn’t seem to add much to the narrative. But it thankfully keeps things going at a good pace.
Look, no one’s going to argue that The Intruder is some great piece of filmmaking, but as a trashy little thriller, it served its purpose. The jump moments made me jump, the moments of tension are solid enough, and the cheer moments seemed to have a decent effect with the audience I was with. It largely works because Dennis Quaid is such a memorable and deliciously sleazy villain, and he makes the film worth the price of admission alone.