With David Duchovny's brilliant writing, sense of humor and the late Anton Yelchin shining bright in this early role you barely even notice Robin Williams. Not dissing Robin Williams at all - he does a fabulous job as always but the real unsung hero and often overlooked talent in this movie is Anton Yelchin - the world lost an incredibly talented young man when he passed unexpectedly. After reading a couple of Duchovny's books, watching Californication, The X-Files and even Aquarius - I went back and rewatched this and can hear his words throughout the entire film. If you haven't seen this and you're a fan of David Duchovny then you have to watch and rewatch this!

Tom Warszaw (David Duchovny) is an artist in Paris. His son is turning 13 and he is haunted by something that happened 30 years ago. The movie flashes back to 1973 Greenwich Village. Tommy (Anton Yelchin) lives with his troubled widower mother Katherine (Téa Leoni). His mentally challenged neighbor Pappas (Robin Williams) is his best friend and a janitor at his school. They deliver meat together for the local butcher. They hide their money at the Women's House of Detention to keep it away from Pappas' angry drunk father. Tommy befriends a prisoner called Lady (Erykah Badu) and starts a teen romance with Melissa. Just as Tommy is about to turn 13, two terrible events happen.I like Yelchin and his puppy love. It's has the potential to be a good coming-of-age movie. Williams' handicap character isn't too campy. However David Duchovny's writing fails him in this movie. His directions aren't that bad but there are a few too many incidences of bad writing. Also the movie stretches out the ending too much. This is trying to be poignant with some quirky touches. Lady is the standard magic negro which annoyed me a little. Orlando Jones looks silly when compared to the rest of the cast. I really hate that Tommy literally pulled the plug. Pappas' turn needs some foreshadowing. It comes out of nowhere. Instead of letting the story flow, Duchovny keeps piling on these little awkward turns.

Rule: No Robin Williams film is bad. Now we can begin talking about "House of D", the film written and directed by David Duchovny about a man reviving his past so he can find himself. This is Tommy, in the skin of Duchovny as an older man and in that of Anton Yelchin as a young boy. The plot line the director has created is not what we could call original; it's what we know as refreshing.In one of New York's many neighborhoods Tommy spends time with his best friend Pappas (Robin Williams), a retarded man who works as a janitor in Tommy's school. "Pap-ass", Tommy calls him, and of course the man calls the boy "Tom-ass". They both deliver food and play baseball with the kids of the different schools.In his first full-length script, Duchovny experiments with adolescent love and friendship in his own way, as he puts the main characters through a test. What the actor writes and directs seems to be very personal, very urgent for some reason. The film looks like if it was done in a hurry; the cinematography is too simple, the edition is too forced.Going back to the script, there are lots of things the viewer could ask Duchovny, like the speech from the beginning of the movie, which is pretty weird; like the title reference, which we understand, but we don't see it as crucial to the story as it is supposed to be for Yelchin's character. The story itself has something out of place; like if it had no reason of being (you'll see what I mean). The figure of the mother, played passionately by Tea Leoni, doesn't seem to fit completely.But the movie is watch able and moving at times and there are other things we find inspiring between the silly moments of the screenplay. What is silly sometimes becomes incredibly funny; mostly the material Robin Williams has to deal with, which lies in a fine line between comedy and drama. I may sound stupid but he actually looks like a retarded individual and he shines eventually throughout the film and we are as grateful as ever.Erykah Badu has one of the most powerful characters I've seen in a long time and her performance is equally powerful. And Alton Yelchin is one in a million. His voice is so peculiar, his manners are so carefully measured, the film lies on his shoulders and he doesn't care. This is an actor so talented that he hasn't turned twenty and you can trust him a whole movie.Duchovny doesn't even act in the film, but he shouldn't because this project means for him as a director; as a storyteller. And it's difficult to classify his piece: full of power but difficult to understand, exciting but incomplete. I had a lot of expectations with "House of D"; in the end most of them were fulfilled, but I'm sure next time around Duchovny will find something really worthy inside his house and we will be amazed. Rule: No Robin Williams film is bad.

David Duchovny has crafted a beautifully touching film with House of D. It is a coming-of- age story of sorts as his character narrates what happened to him around his thirteenth birthday. Being that his own son, in France, is now turning into a teenager, he feels that the time is finally right to tell his wife the reality of his past. Much happened to the young Tom Warshaw in the days leading to what should have been a joyous date. He was a standout student in his private Catholic school, hanging with his best friend Pappas, his neighbor who was mentally retarded and employed as a janitor at the school. While being 40 years old, Pappas was basically a 13 year old child as well. Once Tom discovered the fairer sex and began hanging out with a girlfriend, his friend realized he just couldn't follow. Emotions run high as Pappas tries to win back the one person who really treats him as a human being by stealing a bike the two have been saving money for. This one event creates a snowball effect as Tom's life spirals out of control, causing him to need to grow up much quicker than he should have to, making tough decisions which ultimately lead to his life in Paris as a new man.House of D is the feature debut for Duchovny as a writer/director; he proves himself admirably in both positions. The story is nicely balanced between narration and dialogue. We are shown the time of Tom's life that really created him. While the story itself is well-written and uses a believable story arc, making what could have been clichéd contrivances work in the final scope of things, it is the acting that really drives the film. It appears Duchovny is an actor's director, getting amazing performances from stalwart thespians as well as capable newcomers. Téa Leoni is great as Tom's mother who has lost her husband and is working as a nurse to try and bring her son up right, yet can't shake the void in her heart left by the loss; Robin Williams deftly handles the challenges in playing Pappas as he doesn't overdo it, (besides the unnecessary fake teeth), this isn't a showy performance, but instead subtle and emotive; Frank Langella does well as the school's reverend, adding a solid disciplinary figure with some nice comic moments; and relative newcomer—I believe this is his first starring role —Anton Yelchin who balances the angst and premature responsibility for those around him to perfection. Yelchin reminded me of Emile Hirsch, in appearance and personality as both play the older than their years character while still retaining the necessary youth, and both star in the forthcoming Alpha Dog which has garnered good buzz along with an intriguing trailer.Singer Erykah Badu provides a breakthrough role here as well. She has acted in a couple films before, but here she really shines as Tom's guide on high. Imprisoned in the titular House of D, her voice comes down to Yelchin's character with advice among the other prostitutes yelling to their pimps on the street. Helping with girl problems and issues of respecting those you love, Badu delivers her lines with purpose and meaning through the bar cells with only a mirror shard to see him by. When she teaches Tom how to dance one dusky evening, she provides the music for which to gain rhythm from. The scene is light and touching, sowing the seeds of their relationship and the impact she had, although briefly, on his life. This distant bond culminates in a wonderful moment during the dénouement between her and Duchovny where the weight of his past is finally lifted from his shoulders.