The Roommate

Written by Jonathan Jacobs

The Roommate is a movie for younger audiences. It features strong lesbian overtones, and undertones (depending on the scissoring configurations). The cast includes many up-and-coming young actors and actresses, but somehow, the wily old veteran shines the most. Yes, that’s right, I am looking at you Bill Zane! No matter how talented or dynamic a roster seems on paper, actors are always better off with a seasoned performer guiding them to greatness. The film is really what I would label the “tale of the triptych.” There is the good, the bad and the unaesthetically ugly. The Roommate has its excellent moments, but overall it is a typical sensationalized cluster-mess that fails to deliver on its promise.

Minka Kelley stars as freshman newcomer Sara Matthews. Sarah is an ambitious, genuine, and intelligent young woman. Attending fashion school is her gateway to becoming a successful designer. She has journeyed to ULA to study under the legendary Professor Roberts (Zane). Zane has aged a great deal, but his gruff masculinity remains unchanged. Professor Roberts is quickly impressed with Sarah’s knowledge both of fashion history, and of its moguls (e.g. Yves Saint Laurent and Ralph Lauren). Entering her freshman dormitory for the first time, Sarah expects to find her roommate waiting to introduce herself. Be careful what you wish for Freshie, you just might get it!

When Sarah finally meets her roommate Rebecca (Leighton Meester), she seems sisterly and overly sweet. What more can a first year student ask for when attending school in an unfamiliar new town than an automatic best friend? There is just one catch. Rebecca is schizophrenic! Do you know why schizophrenics are difficult to have monogamous relationships with? Because they always want to see other people! Sarah does not realize this until later, but audiences will quickly recognize that Rebecca suffers from at least one volatile mental disorder. What is a little psychosis among friends?

Rebecca falls head over heels for her new roommate. It remains unclear throughout the film if her affection toward Sarah is heightened by lesbian sensibilities or from an unnatural need for attachment. Two of Sarah’s friends live on or near campus, making her transition to collegiate life much easier. The first is Tracy Morgan (Alyson Michalka), another freshman who loves to party. Sarah’s other close friend is Irene (Danneel Harris). Irene is a little older, has a beautiful off-campus apartment and is also involved in the fashion business. During her first night of partying, accompanied by Tracy, Sarah meets an alluring fraternity drummer, Stephen (Cam Gigandet). Stephen is extra-social, extra-attentive, and extra-sexual. They become a couple after a lot of successful courting.

Feeling attached or attracted to Sarah, Rebecca begins eliminating the competition. She will literally allow nothing to come between her and Sarah. Rebecca frames Professor Roberts for sexual assault after he kisses Sarah against her wishes. She goes all Fatal Attraction (boiled bunny rabbit anyone? It may be free range too!) on their secret dorm room kitty by placing her in the dryer to be burned alive. Meeeeeeeeee, owwwww that’s hot. Pardon the shabbiness of my literary device, there really is no alternative method for phrasing how an adorable kitty cat might be burned alive. Rebecca stalks Stephen at the library, masturbates with Sarah’s ex-boyfriend Jason (yummy), and causes problems for Irene. In one otherwise steamy shower scene, she rips out Tracy's belly ring without any anaesthetic. She does all of this in the name of “friendship”. With friends like Rebecca, who needs enemies?

The tagline for The Roommate is “2,000 colleges. 8 million roommates. Which one will you get?" The hot schizophrenic one sounds good to me! Being in a relationship with a deranged psychopath has its advantages. Imagine all of the attention they will shower you with. They will always be devoted, and will never let anything come between you! The real stars of the show are Cam Gigandet and Billy Zane, despite the film’s focus on the misguided ladies. Gigandet is a rising star, although he is heavily misused in The Roommate. He should always be cast as the villain. Gigandet has dark circles under his eyes causing him to always look suspicious or villainous. That is a brilliant natural characteristic to have for an actor. Until The Roommate, Zane had not acted in a major film in some time. He should do so more often as his charisma is off the chart. This film looked, based on the previews, like a delicious horror movie with attractive young actors. Instead, it is a mish-mash of masturbation, a nebulous chain of nutty happenstances, and it lacks any of the necessary elements that make horror films great. There is nowhere near enough blood and gore. The ladies are rather one dimensional (Sara is always heartfelt regardless of the circumstances, Rebecca is always jealous and deranged, and Tracy is always slutty). Overall, The Roommate is full of laughs, all of which are necessitated to break the tension of the awkwardness, and it does not go far enough in its violence, horror or nudity quotients to be successful.