The Roommate

The Roommate (2011)

5% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 55 reviews)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Christian E. Christiansen

Starring: Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet, Billy Zane

From: Screen Gems

Yep, I went and saw a movie to gawk at some pretty girls on the big screen.

I’ve heard about this movie for a few years now, way back to the point that the two lovely leads were signed for the movie; they were selected as hey, many people have said they look awfully a lot like each other, which is true. You can also say the same about the comparison between this movie and Single White Female. I’ve never seen that flick, but I generally know what it’s about, and it sounds awfully similar to this movie… except that this movie is PG-13. Go figure.

I knew going in that the movie got some pretty bad reviews. That’s why I didn’t go see it at first, even though I find both of the leads to be rather easy on the eyes, especially Minka Kelly. In terms of celebrities and looks, I think she ranks right at the top for me. I haven’t really seen her act, but with those looks… my heart is a-flutter with looking at pictures of her on the Internet and elsewhere. The fact that she doesn’t come off as a fame whore (to put it bluntly) and doesn’t end up in the tabloids like Britney or Lindsay or Paris or the Kardashians is a big plus. And, she doesn’t seem to have a bad personality either or act stupid/ignorant. Sounds like the perfect lady for me! But, I have a feeling she’ll stick with baseball star Derek Jeter instead.

Anyhow, the movie is about Midwestern girl Sara (Kelly) moving out to LA for college. Her roommate ends up being local girl Rebecca (Meester). At first things seem fine; but, then Rebecca seems awfully clingy… and then odd things begin to happen. Sara mentions some things to Rebecca that are bothering her, such as an ex-boyfriend who keeps on calling her, or a fashion class professor (Zane, who looks like pro wrestler/Olympian Kurt Angle after about a 3 day bender) who flirts and then kisses Sara. Rebecca decides to get revenge, but in a hilarious way; at least I found it to be hilarious. Sara leaves her phone in the room one night and Rebecca answers when he calls. She plays along, pretending to be her roommate (and he’s too dumb to know the difference) and “her hands go down South”, to state it in a clean manner. She then tells him never to call back. She sets up Billy Zane in a compromising position in order to get him fired and he ends up getting kneed in the groin. Poor Billy Zane. However, Rebecca is just plain crazy and more demented than just someone who goes to extremes to help out a pal.

The movie is just not that good at all. It seems like it was edited with a chainsaw (especially during the final half hour or so) and things are brought up and dropped. I wonder if there were reshoots involved. It seemed like that was the case on a few occasions. I also wondered about a few glaring plot holes. For example, there’s a subplot involving a cute little animal. Not to give more away than I have already, but Rebecca puts the cute animal into the dryer at what I presume was the dorm’s laundry room. According to that movie, when someone eventually finds the animal in there, it doesn’t become news around there and Sara doesn’t discover what happened to that cute animal. It’s that kind of movie.

Yet, with this suspenseful thriller that wasn’t suspenseful or thrilling, I managed to be entertained, if only because I was able to laugh at how bad it was and how it missed the mark. Sure, I guess it didn’t miss the mark of showing off the two leading ladies, as it managed to do that pretty well. They both looked very nice in how they looked and what they wore. So, at least now I can say I’ve seen Ms. Kelly on the big screen, even if it’s something that should have been better. It isn’t so awful that you want to stop watching it; it’s just that it’s easy to laugh at it. But, I will admit that while Minka was fine as the lead (and I’m not just talking about her appearance; rather, I’m talking about her performance), I thought that Leighton was good as the psycho lady, even though not much was given to explain just WHY she was so crazy, aside from some basic diagnosis that a click on a Wikipedia page (no joke) gives. Also, I do have to mention that I found it rather intriguing that a supporting character sings a song in the shower (no, there’s no nudity involved) and the tune is… Crimson & Clover. Yeah, the 60’s song by Tommy James & The Shondells. I have no idea why; maybe someone was a fan of the Joan Jett version, or maybe it was a rib. I just found it odd, that’s all.

I’ll be back Monday night with a new review.