"Nasty and tasteless, but promising."
If you are up for warring bitches and catfights that seem to
go on forever, Roommate Wanted would
be perfect for you. It is an independent film by Rob Margolies whose projects
were mostly short films like Wherever You
Are (2008) and She Wants Me (2012).
Roommate Wanted opens with a big HUH? and perhaps WOW! as two women, presumably
the roommates, are fighting and getting into each other’s throats. The film
moves few days backwards and we are introduced to two roommates with personalities
entirely different from one another. We have Janie Garber (Alexa Vega) –
bipolar, control freak, uptight, loyal to her boyfriend, smart and independent.
On the other hand, we have Dee Henderson (Spencer Grammer) who is obsessed with
her looks and gym bod, constantly changes partner, stereotypical dumb blonde
and aggressive. When Janie’s application is accepted at Stansbury College, she discovers
that the scholarship only covers tuition fee. In order to push through her
education, she needs to find additional fund. Dee is initially supportive about
it and the roommates search the web for possible projects. Viola! There is a
fertility clinic which buys eggs for $50 thousand. Everything seems fine and happy
until Janie makes some cruel remarks to Dee. Hurt, Dee decides to contend against
her roommate in selling her egg. So the competition begins which results to
each one lashing at each other.
The film has such an interesting opening that it picks your attention.
You smell trouble from that moment on. But after that initial fight scene, the
movie goes a little lazy as the plot begins to unfold. Though dragging, it is
still quite appealing and engaging as director Margolies injects comedy at
perfect timing. Star stickers on food and dog-turd shampoo are remarkable
humor. The second half of the film gets more exciting as the two roommates
launch an all-out war at one another. They fight all over the house – the lobby,
kitchen, bedrooms and even bathrooms. They break anything – plates, furnitures
and aquarium. They take a little rest occasionally but go on fighting again
after piqued by the other. However, the catfights are too long, becoming
overrated, nasty and tasteless at the end. It is not fun anymore as scenes
become unbelievably violent at times but tiring at other times. It was like
listening to a whining person for days. Fortunately, the two makes up towards
the end and the movie concludes with a hilarious mishap. Now, that was
surprising and guiltily thrilling!
The commitment of the actors to the role is noteworthy. Between
the two, Grammer gives a more convincing and charming performance. Maybe being
a stupid bitch is much easier to portray than a worked up proper girl, but Grammer
has that crude meanness and delightful wits. However, both beauties still
suffered from generally poor production. Aside from pacing issues, the sounds
are inadequate and editing was not done well. There is also certain dryness and
coarseness in the cinematography. Understandably, it is an indie film but this rawness
takes the energy out of an otherwise dynamic movie.
However, director Rob
Margolies showed promise in spot-on comedy with Roommate Wanted. Despite obvious technical issues possibly due to
budget limitations, he managed to come up with an engaging and entertaining
piece of film. He is still young and we can only hope he can move further and work
on quality comedy films.
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