Entertaining and nasty
by Nav Qateel
Roommates Janie (Alexa Vega) and Dee (Spencer Grammer), become bitter rivals then deadly enemies over the course of a day, when both go after the same high-paying gig. Janie and Dee couldn’t be more different. Janie has the brains, while Dee has the looks. Janie has been trying hard to get into Stansbury College. After her application interview is successful, Janie learns that the scholarship only covers half her tuition fees, making it unaffordable. Desperate, and after ruling out every other way she can think of to earn a lot of cash quickly, Janie decides to sell her eggs to a fertility clinic for $50 thousand.
However, Janie made some cruel remarks to Dee, and now Dee has decided to give her roommate a bit of competition by selling her eggs to the same clinic. Because time is an issue and only one of them are likely to be chosen, Dee and Janie begin a campaign of cruelty to one another, then outright war ensues.
Director Rob Margolies’ Roommate Wanted, is a stripped-down, bare-bones independent film, in that it’s set mostly in a single location, and uses a very small compliment of actors, making it the ideal sort of project for growing filmmakers to fine-tune and hone their craft. If Roommate Wanted — penned by first-timer Aaron Edward — sounds familiar, it may be that you’ve seen Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s 2003 festival hit, 2LDK, a strikingly similar tale of roomies at war, only it’s set in Tokyo.
- Roommate Wanted
- Directed by
Rob Margolies - Cast
Alexa PenaVega, Spencer Grammer, Kathryn Morris - Release Date
19 May 2015 - Nav’s Grade: B
*****
We arrive at a point in time, where Janie and Dee are only now realising just how much they get on each other’s nerves. With more than enough money to get by on, Dee glides through life with barely a care in the world. She drives her sports car to the gym every morning, then continues to work on her appearance throughout the day, until it’s time to come home to get some social networking done. For example, Dee makes herself and Janie a smoothie, but before she allows Janie to begin drinking, Dee whips out her cell and takes a picture of the beverage. “What is that for?” asks a curious Janie. “Instagram, Facebook, Twitter” Dee quickly replies.
On the other hand, Janie is bipolar, vegan and a Buddhist. When it comes to Janie bearing Dee’s eccentricities, you can see Janie has to fight hard to keep her temper in check. Janie has also travelled the world, bringing back keepsakes in the shape of decorative plates from everywhere she visits. In fact, other than her little dog, the plates are Janie’s most prized possessions. Janie and Dee’s relationship goes downhill rapidly, after Dee decides to use one of the plates to eat a snack from, which was done in response to Janie being bitchy. When Janie’s ex-boyfriend gets brought into the mix, added to the fact both are now after the same paying gig, it becomes a no-holds-barred, brutal, messy and nasty affair.
Roommate Wanted is an odd film in many ways. It’s entertaining, contains some wonderful performances and memorable scenes (dog-turd shampoo, anyone?). And while it succeeds in almost every department, it lacks enough humor to offset the stark violence that the girls’ inflict on one another. Had this been a Japanese-made film, for example, the quirkiness would have appeared to be perfectly acceptable and normal. In an American setting, however, it felt a little unsettling at times. But that’s my only complaint, if indeed it can be called thus.
I for one enjoyed the film, even though it struggled with pacing during the middle act. I doubt you’ll like either character by the time the end credits appear on screen, but we’re not really meant to. Alexa PenaVega and Spencer Grammer get to perform some truly fantastic scenes, although, Margolies did almost drop the ball by having these scenes go on a bit too long, where they almost lost their impact. But, overall the director created a fine little indie that most should find easy to get into.
It should be simple enough to gauge whether Roommate Wanted will appeal to you. If you like the trailer you’ll like the film. Nuff said.
