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Joe's Apartment

  • 1996
  • PG-13
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
15K
YOUR RATING
Jerry O'Connell and Megan Ward in Joe's Apartment (1996)
ParodyQuirky ComedyComedyFantasyMusicalSci-Fi

A nice guy has just moved to New York and discovers that he must share his run-down apartment with a couple thousand singing, dancing cockroaches.A nice guy has just moved to New York and discovers that he must share his run-down apartment with a couple thousand singing, dancing cockroaches.A nice guy has just moved to New York and discovers that he must share his run-down apartment with a couple thousand singing, dancing cockroaches.

  • Director
    • John Payson
  • Writer
    • John Payson
  • Stars
    • Jerry O'Connell
    • Megan Ward
    • Billy West
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.5/10
    15K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • John Payson
    • Writer
      • John Payson
    • Stars
      • Jerry O'Connell
      • Megan Ward
      • Billy West
    • 74User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins total

    Videos1

    Joe's Apartment
    Trailer 1:41
    Joe's Apartment

    Photos98

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    Top Cast86

    Edit
    Jerry O'Connell
    Jerry O'Connell
    • Joe
    Megan Ward
    Megan Ward
    • Lily Dougherty
    Billy West
    Billy West
    • Ralph Roach
    • (voice)
    Reginald Hudlin
    Reginald Hudlin
    • Rodney Roach
    • (voice)
    Jim Turner
    Jim Turner
    • Walter Shit…
    Pepa
    Pepa
    • Blank
    • (as Sandra Denton)
    Robert Vaughn
    Robert Vaughn
    • Senator Dougherty
    Don Ho
    Don Ho
    • Alberto Bianco
    Jim Sterling
    Jim Sterling
    • Jesus Bianco…
    Shiek Mahmud-Bey
    • Vladimir Bianco
    David Huddleston
    David Huddleston
    • P.I. Smith
    Frank Bello
    Frank Bello
    • Stick-Up Man #1
    Lord Kayson
    • Stick-Up Man #2
    Alex Molina
    • Stick-Up Man #3
    Wayman Ezell
    • Apartment Broker #1
    Vincent Pastore
    Vincent Pastore
    • Apartment Broker #2
    Rose Kimmel
    • Mrs. Grotowski
    Cynthia Neilson
    • Dangling Woman
    • Director
      • John Payson
    • Writer
      • John Payson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews74

    5.515.2K
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    Featured reviews

    squir1y

    Singing and dancing cockroaches. Is that ingenuity or what? Ha, ha!

    This movie is pretty funny. What it lacks in intelligence, it makes up for in fun.

    Joe(O'Connell)has just to New York City and into his first apartment. The only problem: it's infested with thousands of talking cockroaches. They all seem to be a pain in Joe's butt, but the roaches come in more useful for him than he thought.

    This movie is no classic, of course I don't think any of MTV's movies will be considered classics. But they are really funny(also see Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and Dead Man On Campus).

    It's a hilarious and fun little flick, even for people who don't like bugs. 8/10
    annie1962

    Joe's apartment full of laughs

    I wonder why it got criticized because to me the worth of a movie is how you react to it.

    I first saw it on video in 1996 and I can tell you that we had to watch the intro three times because we were laughing so damn hard.

    Even the 'mother' of the house was constantly telling us to shooooshhhh because we laughed so loud.

    Never has a movie had me laughing so loud.

    Now 11 yrs later, my 5 yr and 6 yr old boys watch it and get a huge laugh out of it. They love to see the roaches singing and dancing..

    So if anyone cans it, they can go to buggery because we all get a lot of laughs and entertainment out of it.
    9osgrath

    Totally off the wall creative genius

    I had never heard of this movie before my 16 year-old son rented the video. It is hilarious. Think of "Babe" as produced by the Marx Brothers, using singing cockroaches instead of mice . Evidently the critics didn't like it much, and I can see how they might not see it as high art, but as entertainment and an enjoyable time in fantasy land, it right up there with the best of them, in my opinion.
    6Mike-DD

    Roach memories

    I enjoyed this movie despite one thing - I had an irrational phobia of roaches since I was young, and only got over it a few years ago just before this movie came out. Just as well - I might never watched it otherwise. To see the roaches up close and performing song and dance made me a little nauseous at first as it brought back memories of those times when I got too close to a real roach, but after a while, you sort of forget that they are dirty and disgusting pests and actually start enjoying and anticipating their next comic routine. For me, the stars of the show are the roaches, in fact, I can't even remember who acted in it after a while.
    7hemmelmol

    laugh your head of

    What's wrong with you, people??? Why has this movie such a low rating???

    I loved those bugs everywhere. The special effects are OK. The story itself is a bit naive, but, hé, it's a fairy-tale!

    Everyone who likes Who frames Roger Rabbit, Ant Z, Thumbelina by Don Bluth (OK, bad example) or over-the-top-sentimental-romance like What Dreams May Come must like Joe's Apartment.

    What do we have here? 1: a lonely country-boy in New York; 2: two ugly and dumb bad guys; 3: a sweet girl as love interest; and 4: thousands of bugs who are supposed to be loathsome, but soon turn out to be adorable. The first three items you have seen all before. But the fourth! You've never seen something like this, and you will never forget you saw it.

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    Related interests

    Bill Pullman, John Candy, Joan Rivers, Daphne Zuniga, and Lorene Yarnell Jansson in Spaceballs (1987)
    Parody
    Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Bud Cort, Anjelica Huston, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Matthew Gray Gubler, Seu Jorge, and Waris Ahluwalia in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
    Quirky Comedy
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy
    Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
    Musical
    James Earl Jones and David Prowse in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    Sci-Fi

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The CGI roach scenes were filmed using the same graphics effects engine from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Jurassic Park (1993).
    • Goofs
      When Joe and Lily are sitting on his couch after their first date, the position of his arm changes from lowered to around her shoulder between shots.
    • Quotes

      [Joe finds a man lying in a pool of blood]

      Joe: Oh, my god! Mister, are you alright?

      Walter Shit: Two days, seven hours, twenty-three minutes and four seconds. That's how long I've been lying here.

      Joe: Are you O.K.?

      Walter Shit: 'Course not! I'm an artist!

    • Crazy credits
      After the end credits, the cockroaches come together and form the MTV logo, then they crawl away.
    • Alternate versions
      When Joe's Apartment was aired on network television, the name of the band that Joe became involved with was changed from "SHIT" to "POO"
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: A Time to Kill/Manny & Lo/Kingpin/Joe's Apartment/The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)
    • Soundtracks
      Joe's Apartment Theme
      Written by Kevin Weist & John Payson

      Performed by Mel Tormé & the Roach Chorus

      Courtesy of Concord Records

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    FAQ20

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 26, 1996 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • El departamento de Joe
    • Filming locations
      • Newark, New Jersey, USA
    • Production companies
      • Geffen Pictures
      • MTV Films
      • MTV Entertainment Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $13,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,619,014
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,854,490
      • Jul 28, 1996
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,619,014
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 20m(80 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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