Writer-director Maria Bissell’s debut feature “How to Deter a Robber” is a mildly likable dark comedy that never finds a steady groove. It’s neither dark enough nor comic enough; and it never really settles on whether it wants to be a breezy spoof of home-invasion thrillers or an earnest story about teenagers realizing they need to grow up in a hurry.
The veteran TV actress Vanessa Marano (still in her 20s but already a familiar face from long stints on “Gilmore Girls” and “Switched at Birth”) plays Madison, a college-bound high-schooler spending a holiday weekend in a snowy small-town Wisconsin house with her family and her dopey long-time boyfriend Jimmy (Benjamin Papac). One night while playing drinking games and watching bad movies with Jimmy and her cool Uncle Andy (Chris Mulkey), Madison is startled by two bumbling young burglars, Patrick (Sonny Valicenti) and Christine (Abbie Cobb).
'How to Deter a Robber' Review: A Stale Home-Invasion Comedy lmtonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lmtonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.