This comedy, about a teenager and his younger sister who lock their parents in the basement until they work out their marital problems, is not as bad as it sounds. We wind up with a bunch of kids upstairs who know how to relate to one another but gradually have to work out how to keep practical things running, and a bunch of adults downstairs who are just the opposite. In truth, neither side does very well, but at least this is not the tired condescension of the kids screwing up and needing to be rescued by the adults: both groups are portrayed with a mix of severity and sympathy. Throw in a meddling retired chief of police across the street, and make him Ray Walston whom I think everybody loved most in "Picket Fences," and you have a film that is very entertaining, and also carries across some deeper meaning about what contributions young people and older ones can make to each other's ongoing development. Kyle Howard was 18 trying to play 14, which took a good deal of suspension of disbelief, but that miscasting seems to be an obsession Hollywood just can't seem to grow out of.

After Grover(Kyle Howard) and his younger sister Stacy(Amy Sakasitz) find out that their parents, Janet(Jamie Lee Curtis)and Ned Beindorf(Kevin Pollak) are getting separated and maybe divorced they decide to lock them in the basement so that they can figure things out. But during school, Grover tells his friend Matt(Mooky Arizona)what he did to his parents and the school bully T.J.(Russel Harper)hears them and decides to lock his parents in Grover's basement too, along with Matt's parents and Brooke's mother too. Brooke is played by Jennifer Love Hewitt and she plays a popular girl in school on who Grover has a big crush on. I thought this was a wonderful family movie. It was very funny and I think it can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. All the actors do a good job and it's just a very entertaining movie. A lot of people have complained and said that this movie was very unrealistic and things like that would never happen in real life but c'mon, what movie is really realistic and things that happen in movies usually don't happen in real life but you should enjoy movies such as these while you still can. Anyways, I would give House Arrest 9/10.

Everything about this is heartwarming even the stuff that isn't, plus I relate to it in a massive way cause my parents got divorced at a young age, for me anyway this is such a feel good movie! I love every single cast member and the story - so much fun! The acting is superb too so is the soundtrack!