George (Kline), an architect with a messy life, learns he is dying and decides that the best medicine would be to renovate his shack of a home into something more respectable and at the same time reconcile with his alienated teenage son (Christensen). Though his grand designs raise concerned eyebrows among his friends, neighbors, and ex-wife (Thomas), in time all come to see George's quest as the spiritually redeeming metaphor it really is.
Directed by Oscar-winning producer Winkler (''Rocky''), from a script by Oscar-nominated Andrus (''As Good As It Gets''), ''House'' was largely filmed on the site of an old theme park in Palos Verdes, Calif., and its clatch of tony, oceanview homes was built for a reported budget of $1 million. The movie also features the first major film work by Christensen, who next year will wield The Force as Anakin Skywalker in ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.'' The 20-year-old actor says he wanted to play the rebellious Sam immediately after reading his first scene, in which he wakes up, gets high, puts a noose around his neck, and masturbates: ''I thought that would be the perfect piece to say, 'Yep. That's the kid who's playing Anakin Skywalker.''' Aren't you proud of us for not making a light-saber joke?
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