The Roommate

'THE ROOMMATE': Two Stars (Out of Five)

New variation on 'SINGLE WHITE FEMALE', this one revolving around two college freshmen living on campus together at ULA. It stars 'GOSSIP GIRL's Leighton Meester as the psycho student and Minka Kelly as the good girl. The film is directed by Christian E. Christiansen and written by first time writer Sonny Mallhi. It's mildly amusing at times but for the most part it's routine and devoid of thrills or any real action.

Kelly plays Sara Matthews and Meester plays Rebecca Evans. When the two first meet in the dorm room they've both been given they immediately hit it off. What Sara doesn't realize is that she's made too much of an impression on Rebecca and she quickly becomes obsessed with her. Sara is also troubled by an ex-boyfriend (Matt Lanter) who keeps calling but has met a new love interest in drummer Stephen Morterelli (Cam Gigandet). This doesn't sit well with Rebecca who wants Sara all to herself. Her obsession turns to creepy and dangerous really fast.

The film is very light on thrills and violence (for a thriller). The first two thirds of the film actually play out more like a depressing character study drama leaving the viewer feeling more sorry for Rebecca than afraid of her but then of course the end turns to routine third act 'B' movie trash and we finally get some action. Meester is somewhat good as the troubled student and Kelly looks beautiful but for the most part the movie has no real acting to speak of. The dialogue is weak and scares and thrills, like I said, are nearly nonexistent. The movie fails on almost every count but it's still mildly amusing. I give it some credit for not putting me to sleep but it's mostly a waste.

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Movies like this get a bad rap because you know exactly whats going to happen.

But this was shot in a film-noir style and didn't resort to being a slasher-esque movie, unknown foreign director christensen builds the suspense up well, there's nothing long winded here and the 90 minute running time is perfectly paced.

No harm that all the characters are easy on the eye, and while no-one stood out, there wasn't any cringeworthy or cheesy performances.

Its unfair to compare this to other "obsession" movies, I feel this film stands out on its own and is a solid thriler much better than the 4.5 rating on here

It would be easy to say that The Roommate is a lazy attempt at a remake of the 1992 movie, Single White Female without claiming to be, but it isn't really…. Because at least Single White Female was more of a psychological thriller in it's day, than The Roommate is in today's industry. Here in 2011 I expected a bit more. I actually looked forward to an upscale version of SWF, I was mistaken, because sadly, apparently mundane and unimaginative are enough for the writers of The Roommate , it seems they don't wish to entertain, let alone engage their audience. That said, let's go...

Summary: A story about a freshmen college student, Sara (Minka Kelly) and her obsessed psycho roommate, Rebecca ( Leighton Meester) who feels the need to remove everyone from Sara's path, her newly acquired BFF - a destination established by Rebecca and by Rebecca alone, after only two days.

As much as I like a flick with a demented chick, I must admit, there was something lacking in this - a movie I truly thought was going to offer so much more than it did …I like the concept of the movie because I was able to see what it could have been, through the glimpses of the psychotic potential shown by way of the character, Rebecca. However, It was basically a mediocrity type of movie. Sara (Minka Kelly) who is about as interesting as soggy white bread or peeling paint - doesn't matter which you associate her with, it's still the same., she goes to her second choice college because her inapt boyfriend, Jason did not initially get accepted into Brown as she did, so they break up and she goes on to the other college - and just to annoy her or the audience - who knows, Jason finally gets accepted at Brown, but only after Sara goes on to the other school. Mind you, this information regarding Jason is provided via cell phone messages, and Sara's need to tell all her business to someone she does not even know, of course that would be, no other than the lovely Rebecca. Sara ends up tied to Rebecca (Leighton Meester) her roommate who is about as private and withdrawn as Sara herself, but with a spicy twist - she's insane, well not really, she's suppose to be on medication, but apparently doesn't actually take it - the audience will not know why.

This movie had so much more potential of being a true psychological thriller had the writers allowed Rebecca's deranged character to shine, instead they focused on the dullness of Sara which brought true dullness to the movie. Their targeted audience obviously was the teen audience - hoping there was a lack of attention span, which for this particular movie was a mistake - those connected with this film seem more focus on targeting the high volume audience for increased ticket sales, as oppose to providing an exciting and enjoyable movie to an overall audience.

Yes, I've left out details about: Danneel Harris as Irene, Billy Zane as Professor Roberts and Alyson Michalka as Tracy - considering the storyline choose to leave these potentially great supporting characters out of the story. Truly, these characters could have really help to carry this movie to it's full potential.

Perhaps it would have been better, or at least more exciting if the story would have concentrated on Rebecca as oppose to Sara. There should have been more of a back story written for Rebecca, because the audience really could have benefited from knowing what happened in Rebecca's pass. Though there was the brief unannounced trip to her parents house during the Thanksgiving holiday, the scene briefly eluded to the parents being quite afraid of their (un)medicated-behind daughter, as did a trio of young women she probably attended high school with, there was no real insight or depth to that portion of the movie, or what part those characters played in Rebecca's past life or present condition. This back-story, had there been one, could have been a serious opportunity to push the story forward and would have provided a more anticipated climax.

I think perhaps the wrong part of the script ended up on the editing floor. Not certain if they wanted to showcase Minka Kelly as a leading actress or what, but it did not work well for this particular vehicle; as her character was too dull to carry what was suppose to be a thriller movie, that fell short of it's mark. Did I like the movie? Let's just say, I like what the movie could have been and leave it at that. See it for yourself….

This is my opinion, and opinions are free - attack it if you wish...

I gave this movie a 4/10 score. The Story centers around Sara (Minka Kelly), a college student from Des Moines, who starts her freshman year at UCLA. She meets her roommate Rebecca (Leighton Meester), only to find out that she's not as nice as she seems...

That's about it. There is almost nothing more to add to the story. There are several "subplots" involving Sara's old and new friends, however these are about as uneven, unnecessary and uninspired as the rest of the movie. I felt pretty much nothing throughout the entire 90 minutes. It's not scary or suspenseful or moving at all. The dialog is about as dull as it gets, especially the cheesy lines between Sara and her new boyfriend Stephen (Cam Gigandet).

I never felt any kind of sympathy for any of the characters, so it pretty much did not matter to me, who lived and who died, which results in a 90 minute waste of time. The "fighting" scenes especially towards the end are beyond ridiculous and the "suspense" is created by a close-up shot of the character looking suspicious in a room without proper lighting.

The reasons why I still decided to give this one 4 out of 10 are that it's relatively easy to watch and does not demand a lot of attention, so I guess it might work for some people as a decent way to kill time if you lower your standard. Leighton Meester also has her moments, especially during her mood swings. It's a forgettable film, which does pretty much nothing to entertain you, but at least it's not too long and the (poor) story moves forward. It certainly doesn't hurt that the girls are easy on the eyes. I don't recommend watching this if you have any standards regarding suspenseful entertainment at all.

Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly) is starting her freshman year of college at ULA. Upon arrival, she meets Tracy Morgan (Alyson Michalka), an avid party-goer, and Stephen Morterelli (Cam Gigandet), a drummer who plays in a band for a fraternity who later begins to date Sara. After a party at Stephen's fraternity house that lands Tracy drunk, Sara arrives back at her dorm late at night and meets Rebecca Evans (Leighton Meester), her new roommate, whose parents live only 20 minutes away and who is great at drawing portraits of people. Initially, the girls begin to bond very well as Rebecca learns more about Sara's life. Sara had an older sister, Emily, who died when Sara was nine. She keeps a necklace that belonged to Emily as well as her sister's name tattooed on her chest.

She also has an ex-boyfriend, Jason (Matt Lanter), who keeps calling her to try to get back together with her.The history behind their breakup is that Jason and Sara agreed to both go to Brown University or not, and when only Sara got a spot, she declined it and chose ULA. However, when Jason got accepted to Brown at the last minute, he accepted to go without Sara, reneging on their agreement. Against dorm regulations, the two girls secretly adopt a stray kitten which Sara found. As time goes on, though, Rebecca begins to become more obsessed with spending time with Sara and wants to have her all to herself. She is willing to keep at bay anyone who wronged Sara or who she thinks is stealing Sara away from her....

The Roommate is your run of the mill thriller. There is absolutely nothing new or original here. The film slowly builds up to reveal that a certain character is the "bad guy", well, it builds up to reveal how bananas the character truly is because, you know from the beginning where each character stands, and then comes the action which is predictable and not very exciting. The acting wasn't bad although I wish Minka Kelly had a little more personality.She's great too look at but she's also somewhat boring. Leighton Meester did a fine job. All in all it's a decent little film, but I wouldn't waste my time on it.

6/10