The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
Best2011Vote-1000x50

Review: The Roommate

Bloodless, sexless (and tired) Single White Female riff
By TOM MEEK  |  February 15, 2011
1.5 1.5 Stars

There's little in this girl-gone-wild thriller directed by Christian E. Christiansen that you haven't seen before and better - in SingleWhite Female, The Crush, and even Scream, to name a few. This one is so rinky-dink that the college in question is "ULA" (not UCLA), and co-eds troll on "My Friendz" (not Facebook). Especially poignant is the line (from one frosh to another) "You're the first roommate I've had since my sister died!" The actresses - Minka Kelly as the wholesome normal girl, Sara, and Leighton Meester as Rebecca, the introverted rich girl who goes off her meds - bite into their cellophane-thin roles with about as much gusto as you can expect. Billy Zane, meanwhile, meanders lazily as a philandering prof. But the saddest thing about The Roommate is how the filmmakers exploit the clearly ill Rebecca, turning her into a co-ed version of Jason or Freddy Krueger.

Related: Budgeting your time, OMG the DTR, Review: MI-5, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Leighton Meester, COLLEGE, thriller
| More
Add Comment
HTML Prohibited

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 02/18 ]   Akron/Family + Delicate Steve  @ Brighton Music Hall
[ 02/18 ]   Doug Varone and Dancers  @ Institute of Contemporary Art
[ 02/18 ]   George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic  @ House of Blues
ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: THE ROOMMATE  |  February 15, 2011
    There's little in this girl-gone-wild thriller directed by Christian E. Christiansen that you haven't seen before and better - in SingleWhite Female, The Crush, and even Scream, to name a few.
  •   REVIEW: THE DILEMMA  |  January 19, 2011
    Such defining efforts as Cocoon and Apollo 13 seem light years away for Ron Howard after his meanderings in the pages of Dan Brown ( The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons ) and this tripe about men behaving badly.
  •   REVIEW: CASINO JACK  |  January 06, 2011
    Not to be confused with the insightful documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money by the prolific Alex Gibney, this docudrama is nonetheless a fitting bookend.
  •   REVIEW: THE WARRIOR'S WAY  |  December 08, 2010
    Dong-gun Jang's worst enemy: his director
  •   INTERVIEW: EDWARD ZWICK, DIRECTOR OF LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS  |  November 26, 2010
    Ed Zwick on Glory , the go-go '90s, and Cialis-bathtub symbolism.

 See all articles by: TOM MEEK

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2011 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group