Housesitter Information

Housesitter is a 1992 romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a reserved architect by claiming to be his wife.

Plot

Newton Davis is a struggling architect. After building his dream house for himself and his longtime girlfriend Becky, he is crushed when she refuses to marry him. He is unable to bring himself to live in the house, and leaves it abandoned and with a debt he cannot afford. Some time later, Newton meets a waitress named Gwen at a Hungarian restaurant. Believing that she cannot speak English, he spills out his sob story about Becky and the abandoned house. After the restaurant closes, Newton learns that she merely pretended to be Hungarian. They spend some time talking and end up spending the night together.

The next morning, Gwen finds that Newton has left in the middle of the night. However, he unintentionally left behind the drawing of the house he'd built for Becky. Piqued by the drawing, Gwen decides to take a bus ride out to see the house. She is charmed by it, and decides to take up residence in the empty domicile. Needing groceries, Gwen goes to the town's convenience store, where she charges her groceries to the "Newton Davis" account. When questioned about this, Gwen, who it becomes clear is a natural liar, says that she is Newton's wife. Gwen meets Becky, and spins a lengthy romantic story about how they fell in love, which impresses Becky. Gwen also meets Newton's parents, who are heartbroken that Newton got "married" without telling them, but Gwen also manages to smooth things over believably with her charm.

One day, Newton travels to his hometown and is shocked to see that his house is lived in. When he finds out what Gwen has done he is initially furious, but he soon sees the potential in her being there. Gwen starts creating all sorts of opportunities for Newton: mending his relationship with his parents, helping out with his career and making Becky jealous. Newton and Gwen come to an agreement in which Gwen will help Newton get Becky, and in return she'll get all the furniture in the house. Through their time together, Newton begins to rely more on Gwen beyond their agreement, and Gwen starts to feel attached to her life with Newton. It is also revealed that Gwen became a compulsive liar in order to escape from what she feels is her own inadequacy, and that she has "changed" her life numerous times.

One night, Newton arrives home and realises that his feelings for Gwen are becoming apparent. He tells her, as she is doing laundry, that even an ugly jumper is a "turn-on" and, realising that he might have divulged a little fact, he tells her to tell him if there's anything that she thinks he should not wear; she denies his clothing. For the reception, Gwen uses two homeless people, Ralph and Mary, who she knew from the Budapest Cafe, to pose as her parents, to which they do successfully enough to make the town of Dobbs Mill accept their position in Gwen's life.

The film culminates with a reception held at the house in which the sub-plots of Newton's career, family and affections for Becky are brought together. Annoyed with Becky for her slutty attitude, Gwen confronts her in front of everyone, accusing her of trying to win Newton back. Gwen storms out of the house in tears, and Newton follows her, thinking it is still part of the plan. Outside alone, Newton praises Gwen for her brilliance, but Gwen replies that she wanted their marriage to work and her feelings for him are apparent. Newton watches, confused, as Gwen leaves. Becky takes the opportunity to make a move on Newton, and asks him whether all of Gwen's stories were real. Newton answers that they were all true--not revealing that he lied about them--and chases after Gwen.

Newton stops Gwen as she is about to board a bus to leave town. Although she resists, Newton follows her example and begins telling an outlandish romantic story of something they supposedly did, which makes Gwen decide to stay. The film ends on the note of Newton and Gwen being happily married and living together in the house, watching a house being constructed for Ralph and Mary, who are officially "Bernie and Mary Duncle" in the eyes of the town and Newton's family. As Newton and Gwen go into the house to have sex, the final spoken words are of Newton saying "I love you, Gwen" and Gwen replying, "Actually, it's Jessica."

Cast

• Steve Martin as Newton Davis
• Goldie Hawn as Gwen Duncle/Buckley/Phillips
• Dana Delany as Becky Metcalf
• Julie Harris as Edna Davis
• Donald Moffat as George Davis
• Peter MacNicol as Marty
• Richard B. Shull as Ralph / Bernie Duncle
• Ken Cheeseman as Harv
• Laurel Cronin as Mary / Mary Duncle
• Roy Cooper as Winston Moseby
• Christopher Durang as Reverend Lipton

Production

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the house featured in the film was designed by New York architects Trumbull & Associates. Christopher Lukenbeal's 1995 master's thesis A Geography in Film, A Geography of Film cites Debra Wassman of Trumbull: "the house is the real star of the film". Blueprints are available through Princeton Plans Press.

The role of Gwen Phillips was initially offered to Meg Ryan, who pulled out due to her pregnancy. After Ryan pulled out of the project, the producers wanted Kim Basinger for the role. However, Basinger also declined. As a result, Goldie Hawn was eventually cast as Gwen, a role which many believe could have been 'created for Hawn'.

Release and reception

Housesitter received mixed to negative reviews from critics, as it holds a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 19 reviews. Noted film critic, Roger Ebert, gave it three stars saying, "this is one of [Goldie Hawn's] best performances" and praised her and Steve Martin's impeccable comic timing.

The film was released theatrically on June 12, 1992, and performed reasonably well for a low-key comedy film. It earned $9,106,950 on its opening weekend and $58,500,635 for its entire theatrical run and $94,900,635 worldwide.

The film was released on DVD on July 22, 1998.