It’s certainly worth seeing for people who feel strongly
about Sinbad. He shows up in his first scene with that big, unsteady
smile — that uh-oh-something’s-
wrong smile — and from there you know you’re watching someone who
will make you laugh, somehow, some way.

COMIC’S FILM DEBUT

“Houseguest,” which opens today, was tailor-made to
launch the comedian in his first starring role. Sinbad, whose image
is that of a slightly sneaky, good-humored guy keeping one step ahead
of trouble, is perfectly in synch with the part of Kevin, a fast-on-
his-feet dreamer hiding out from the mob with a suburban family.

The father in this suburban family is Gary, played by Phil
Hartman of TV’s “Saturday Night Live.” Middle-class Gary
goes to the airport to pick up a friend he hasn’t seen since
childhood — he just remembers that the friend is black. Kevin
(Sinbad) overhears this and decides on the spot to dodge the hit men
by impersonating the childhood pal.

The set-up makes for a lot of comic situations. Kevin finds
out the name of the man he is impersonating, but it takes him several
scenes before he can figure out what the man does for a living. He
just knows he is the “top man in his field.” Gary brings him to
Career Day at his son’s elementary school, where Kevin gives a
lecture not knowing what he’s talking about. Later Kevin has to go to
a party in his honor.

Sinbad, who has appeared in small roles in other films, is
natural and relaxed on screen and a delight whenever the film gives
him a chance. Unfortunately, he has to compete against the director,
Randall Miller (“Class Act”), who takes this light family come
dy and films it like a rock and roll documentary.

Stretches of “Houseguest” are like watching the MTV news.
It’s all bam-bam-bam — three shots for every two lines of dialogue;
cameras shooting from all angles — up Sinbad’s nostrils and down
from the top of his head — and moving every second. The actors must
have seen the rushes and screamed.

BRIEF CLOSE-UPS

Most of the flashy camera work is on the order of a
one-second close-up of a pillow as Hartman fluffs it up before bed.

The reasoning behind the director’s attack-dog approach to
“Houseguest” may have had
something to do with the script, which is a bit long. But Miller’s
staccato cuts and flashy camera moves don’t speed up the picture. If
anything, they slow it down, the way a strobe light seems to slow
down action.

In its worst moments, “Houseguest” becomes a struggle in
which a very human comedian fights to project his personality over
the director’s technological muddle.

But the good news is that Sinbad wins. The laughs keep coming. And
such is Sinbad’s warmth that all the obligatory family stuff you
expect in this kind of movie comes across as unforced and genuine.