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The Apartment


The Apartment


This was my first time seeing The Apartment and it was such an experience. Not at all what I was expecting. I've somehow managed to make it through these last couple years of being a wannabe cinephile without ever finding out what the movie was about. On tv they only show the comedic clips of Jack Lemmon acting like a goofball so I went in thinking the movie was about an apartment building full of quirky likable characters and there was one apartment in specific in which some of them would often congregate. Jeez. But my lack of absolutely any knowledge of the film going in made for such a brilliant time! Someone just started a thread about that didn't they? Coincidence?

I was shocked at how bitter sweet the movie was. Wilder did a fantastic job of mixing the comedy with the drama and I really love the way he worked the camera in some scenes. Just as much credit for this film's success is due also to Jack Lemmon who delivered an outstanding performance as the nice guy much in need of a spine. There were points in the movie I actually thought his character was being too nice and understanding, but then I realized I know people like that. Shirley MacLaine also did an excellent job in convincing us that Lemmon's character could actually fall for Kubelik despite her flaws. It didn't hurt that I thought she was a knockout. Short hair rocks!! And I got to mention Fred MacMurray who played his role as a downright acidic sleezeball to perfection. Oh how I wanted to punch him.

Thank God for public libraries and their surprisingly impressive DVD selection.