| Untitled Home Invasion Romance is a better title than it sounds like, which is probably why the distributor stuck with it despite the original, more ordinary, less intriguing title “Getaway”. Jason Biggs stars as Kevin, a struggling actor and screenwriter, who is desperate to win back his wife, Suzie (Meaghan Rath). The couple have been on a break after their impromptu wedding, less than a year after meeting. | | 2025
Directed by: Jason Biggs
Screenplay by: Joshua Paul Johnson, Jamie Napoli
Starring: Jason Biggs, Meaghan Rath
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Kevin has planned a surprise weekend getaway despite Suzie insisting she does not want surprises. The first part that he hasn’t yet told her about: it’s at her childhood home; the second part which he won’t be telling her about: he has scripted a fake home invasion, so he can step up and show his wife that he’s a manly hero. Men desperate to prove their masculinity is a sure-fire way to make things way worse than they should be.
While it’s easy to see that things will go wrong, the opening scenes continue to provide so many elements to show how many different ways it will go wrong. Some issues are lame and simplistic: cell coverage isn’t very good; but others are more clever and can lead to some later fun in the plot. For starters, Suzie does not want to go to her childhood home and she hasn’t told Kevin why. Next, Suzie and Kevin go to the small town’s only bar and run into Suzie’s former best friend who is now a cop. Kevin also doesn’t realize that in small towns, everyone knows each other so when strangers show up people tend to take notice and remember them.
There are a lot of twists and a lot of situations going awry to lead humour. When you pack this much into a movie, laughs will be found. It is funny enough. It’s also never boring and the plot keeps moving. Some twists are very easy to spot a mile away, which can be annoying, while others lead to a lot more blood and violence than you might expect for a movie billed as a romantic comedy.
Untitled Home Invasion Romance has a good setup even if it does seem predictable. There is some simplistic writing, like Jason Biggs’ character is paper-thin, so it’s not an overly clever movie and some comedy feels forced. However, it has a great pace, a fun plot and is entertaining in an amusing sort of way.
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