Great Film overall

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

This aired on Disney a few years back as one of their infamous "Original Movies." The concept is something from a "Simpsons" Halloween episode: a computer home is won by a family and they move in only to find their lives dominated by a glitch in the system.In this case the glitch is a visual representation of a woman who seems to think she's the mother of the new family that's moved in...she takes control of their lives and locks them inside the house. Ryan Merriman plays the whiz-kid genius who wanted to win the house, then decides, "Hey, Dad, maybe we shouldn't have moved in here"...after having complained about wanting to throughout the entire beginning of the film.No Disney Original Movie is going to be very good and this follows all the clichés - bad actors, bad script, inept director at the helm (probably a TV veteran and first-timer when it comes to film-making).Overall this is not really worth your time as it is something "The Simpsons" managed to do in 30 minutes and even their version seemed more realistic and less insulting than this...

Nick Cooper (Kevin Kilner) is a widower trying to raise two children, Ryan and Katie. Ryan, who misses his real mother very much, has a head for computers. When a contest is announced for a family to win a computer controlled house, Ryan secretly enters his family. They win! Nick is a bit reluctant to make the move until he gets a look at the home's attractive designer, Sara. Deciding to give it a whirl, Nick, Ryan and Katie begin living in the "smart" house. What could go wrong? Plenty.This movie falls into the realm of good, clean fun. The house "talks", with a voice brought to life by Katey Sagal; consider her a kinder, gentler "big brother". The children are charming and intriguing while the film contains a romance, which should please the adult viewers. Families searching for nice films for a wintery Saturday night at home should consider this one. It is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

It's not a bad movie. The story's interesting, the acting is alright. It's got a lot of things in it that are unrealistic, but that doesn't make it bad (I mean how realistic is The Wizard of Oz or Planet of the Apes) It's pretty good for a made for TV movie, I'd say. If it's on TV and you've got nothing better to do, I would recommend watching it.

Like many of the recent made for TV Disney movies, (i.e. Johnny Tsunami, Genius, You Lucky Dog, among others) Smart House has a potentially good story line. All of these movies turned out stupid though. The directing is poor, as well as the acting. The script is questionable. Also I do not like all of the modern allusions from the "popular world" and disney references inside the movie. Smart House could have been a good movie, but there are just too many dumb things in it. I especially dislike the pointless and overdone climaxes in each of these movies. I give Smart House a 4 out of 10