Directed By Christian E. Christiansen
Starring Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet, Aly Michalka and Billy Zane
Borrowing liberally from Single White Female, Fatal Attraction and just about every other psycho-thriller potboiler you can think of, The Roommate is far from original, hitting every genre cliché with the ease and frequency of Wild Bill Hickok at a kid’s fairground shooting range. Even so, despite being an entirely predictable film with wafer-thin characters, and one which never attempts anything new, it still manages to be a slick, glossy and entertaining teen thriller for the CW set.
Freshman college student Sara (Minka Kelly) is new on campus and settling in for her first year as a fashion design major. Her first week’s off to a peachy start as she finds herself a fun-loving best friend (Aly Michalka) and a hot new drummer boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) before she’s even unpacked. When she meets her new roomie Rebecca (Leighton Meester), it seems like she has another great new addition to her circle of pals. It’s not long, though, before Rebecca’s friendliness gives way to possessive over-protectiveness. Before long, Rebecca’s oddball girl-crush has evolved into bunny-boiling obsession, and the unhinged fruitcake will do just about anything to keep Sara all to herself.
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A throwback to the ’90s heyday of pulpy psychological thrillers like The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Fear, Unlawful Entry and, most obviously, Single White Female, The Roommate borrows shamelessly from its ancestors while adding no new ingredients to its cinematic melting pot. There’s hardly an original frame of celluloid in its runtime; The Roommate sees its villain offing a shared pet to keep the target of her obsession around just as Single White Female did, and where Fatal Attraction had a boiled bunny, and The Roommate has a kitten in a dryer.
But its major saving grace is Leighton Meester, who plays the deliciously unhinged stalker with impressively unsettling gusto. While the script isn’t exactly overflowing with character material to work from, Meester manages to elevate the material greatly, successfully veering between unsettling seductiveness and outright insane creepiness without stooping to cartoonish scenery chewing. And while the script is often too tame in comparison to the films it borrows liberally from, there’s still plenty of wince-inducing moments of violence and tension.
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The improbably gorgeous Minka Kelly doesn’t fare as well as Meester, mainly due to being given a bland and underwritten character, but she handles the role effortlessly and manages to be a likeable and charming enough lead, as does Cam Gigandet as the token boyfriend (even if his excessive squinting stares sometimes makes his character seem like a sinister date-rapist).
While it’s far too derivative and predictable, and lacks the bite and lunacy to make it anything particularly memorable, The Roommate is nonetheless an entertaining Saturday night pizza-and-popcorn thriller buoyed by a delightfully nutty performance from Leighton Meester. Anyone who’s seen Single White Female will see every bit of plot coming by a country mile, but for teens raised on Gossip Girl, it’s a decent bit of mindless, pulpy fun.
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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray release looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s a slick and glossy movie with an eye candy cast and the HD transfer looks as perfect as you could expect for a recent cinema release. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is equally impressive, handling the obligatory jump scares, the peppy rock soundtrack and the dialogue beautifully.
On the special features front, there’s some of the usual generic and boring EPK stuff coupled with some decent deleted scenes, an entertaining and informative commentary track and some cool interactive BD-live extras:
The Danish director talks about his journey from film fan to Hollywood director and the production of the movie, from the usual technical titbits to the restrictions posed by the film’s PG-13 rating. It’s an interesting listen with a lot of insight into the Hollywood system, and there’s talk of cut content and an alternate ending, though there is quite a bit of silence
A handful of minor cut scenes and different takes, including an alternate opening. While the final film opens with a pumping college rock track and an ‘arriving at college’ montage, the alternate opening adopts a more stylish, creepier vibe, opting for an eerie score and slow, foreboding establishing shots of Rebecca and Sara’s room before they’ve moved in. There’s also more of Rebecca stalking Sara’s cousin (Daneel Harris).
A short and fluffy promo feature with the cast introducing the film’s plot, chatting about their characters and such.
A cast-centric promo that sees the cast taking about their roles and the research they put in. Unfortunately most of it’s already covered in the ‘Obsession’ featurette.
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Another quick promotional feature that discusses the costume design and each character’s personality/wardrobe.
Previews for The Green Hornet and Just Go With It.
A cool ‘Pop-Up Video’ style bonus mode which allows you to access pop-up information online while the film plays, from filmographies to soundtrack information.
Another feature allowing you to access online bonus content for the movie.
The Film:
The Blu-ray:
The Roommate is out on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK now.
Click here to order the Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk.