In "Suburban Gothic," Matthew Gray Gubler plays Raymond, a starey-eyed (not starry, starey) 20-something white male who finds himself moving back into his parents' house because he's six months out of business school and can't find a job. He's holding out for a position in "upper management," see. This is amusing, because Raymond is the most feckless, most unambitious business-school graduate in history. He must put up with his boorish oaf of a father (Ray Wise) and his clueless, ever-smiling mother (Barbara Niven). Raymond has been sensitive to the paranormal all his life, and when he moves back into his house, he is pestered by ornery spirits in his dreams and when he's awake. There is a plot about a young girl who was killed by her father in 1860 and, unbeknownst to Raymond's family, was buried on the property. Things get squelchy when a crew of Mexican yard workers uncovers the small coffin containing her remains. Raymond meets an acerbic bartender named Becca (Kat Dennings), with whom he teams up to defend his house and his family from being sucked into this black squelchy ghost-thing that appears from time to time. This movie had a lot of potential, and could have been terrific; it isn't: It has some extremely funny parts, especially the dialogue between Raymond and his father Donald, and between Raymond and the wisecracking Becca. Unfortunately, the various parts don't fit together. The plot is shapeless and all over the place. I'd say it's worth watching once to enjoy actors delivering some very funny, hilariously timed dialogue; but that's about all.
Review of Suburban Gothic
