THE ROOMMATE

PG-13

93 MIN. 

"The Roommate" is a movie with a story we have all seen numerous times. Call it "Fatal Attraction" or "Single White Female" or even "Obsessed" to some degree. The story here is smart, perfect Sarah (Minka Kelly) goes to the University of Los Angeles and enters an empty dorm only to later have the other bed occupied by an innocent looking Rebecca (Leighton Meester). As it turns out, and as shown fully in the trailer, Rebecca is crazy. And, boy, is she crazy! The story continues with Rebecca's insanity becoming more clear to a clueless Sarah even though her friend Tracy (Aly Michalka) and new boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) are telling it to her face. Poor Tracy gets attacked as we see in the trailer....exactly in the trailer. Where the trailer cuts away with the bellybutton ring ripping, the movie does as well. There lies a problem. The movie feels like they filmed a pretty graphic and insane movie, but they obviously and badly edited scenes down to fit the PG-13 rating. There's also this no point sub-plot with Sarah having an ex-boyfriend, and it really doesn't fit. Another sub-plot is Sarah's teacher (played oddly by Billy Zane) having an attraction to her (come on who wouldn't), and, again, it doesn't really do much. 

The biggest flaw with the movie is the build up to an ending that left me and my friend saying, "wait, that's it?" The movie goes nowhere, or at least nowhere near to what the movie was building up. The dialog is really dumb sometimes. There are random scenes and characters, like Nina Dobrev and Daneel Harris, that serve no purpose. The acting is pretty generic and tv-worthy, but Leighton Meester does shine in some parts. "This bitch is crazy," came out of my mouth numerous times. After all, nearly every single person in this movie is on the CW.

All this being said, I still had fun. The movie is silly in many points. There are parts that make you laugh and others where you say "damn!" I was with it after a slow and really teeny-bopper beginning. As a guy, I was pretty happy seeing Leighton Meester and Daneel Harris kiss, but it was a quick kiss and again pointless. The movie is thoroughly entertaining, even though you roll your eyes sometimes. There is a dark filter at points that made me kind of glad they were able to create a freaky atmosphere every time Rebecca appears. I, personally, am hoping and for sure that there will be an unrated DVD version. If not, then they totally chickened out on what could've been an even crazier ride.

Slow beginning, a pretty good build up and crazy scenarios in the middle, and a conclusion that ends too quickly and frankly not very well makes me give the movie a......

RENTAL!!! 

Hope you enjoy this review, and, hey, enjoy the movie!

-JAMES