User reviews

The Roommate is one of those films, that when you first the trailer, you think to yourself, "This is gonna suck". But only when you actually see the film do you realize that you were only partly wrong. The Roommate's premise is simple enough. A young pretty girl is being stalked and obsessed with by her roommate. The film revolves around Sarah (Minka Kelly) who is on her own, going to college and learning new things. Little does she know that she has a stalker roommate, Rebecca (Leighton Meester). As soon as Rebecca and Sarah become closer to each other, strange events begin to occur. Each of Sarah's close friends or allies becomes hurt, or sometimes even killed. I wonder who could've done this?

The good thing about The Roommate is that it is a pretty decent thriller. Even though it doesn't even come close to meeting the standards of a horror movie, it still delivers some chills and even some cheap jump scares. The acting is good as well. With the exception of Minka Kelly. Cam Gigandet delivers a solid sometimes annoying performance as Sarah's new beau. Even though he is not in the film for long, he lifts our spirits when things are going rough, which is pretty much every 10 minutes. But the real scene stealer here is Leighton Meester as the crazed roommate. Meester delivers a believable potent performance, psychotic one moment and sweet the next.

The bad things about the film are that in the very beginning it moves far too fast. Jumping from one thing to the next in the blink of an eye. Also, the writing really could've used a makeover. I mean, the dialogue in this film is ridiculous. All in all, the film is at times stupid and the deaths aren't very well executed, if executed at all. But the acting and characters keep you around for the show. Overall, The Roommate is a film I would recommend, but only to open-minded movie watchers.

It's nice when you're presented with a thriller that the majority of people can relate to. Moving off to college, nervous with jitters, and not knowing who your first college roommate might be. You ask yourself questions like, "Will my roommate be clean and neat? Will we get along? Will they respect my property? " It's a role of the dice that doesn't seem too disappointing for most. What most can't relate to is the question "Is my new roommate a demented psychopath who wants to steal my identity?" Then finding out it's true. That is the case in this rainbow version of the 1992 classic film 'Single White Female.' The film starts with our main character Sarah Matthews (Minka Kelly) moving into her dorm. Sarah is starting to build relationships with other housemates, but they seem paper-thin. Still in the opening credits the acting starts becoming awkward from introductions that are in no way realistic. If you're shopping at Wal-Mart and someone drives they're shopping cart into yours, I don't think everyone will smile then introduce him or herself happily.

After a while we learn Sarah is a design major. Unlike her other classmates she has style something that all the money in the world can't buy according to her Design 101 instructor. Moving along, Sarah goes to a frat party with some of her new friends to get a feel of life away from home without a curfew. She meets a guy whose pick up lines in the real world would come off as lame and stalker like, but for some reason it's acceptable here. After the party, some of the guests are too intoxicated to make it home alone, so they're escorted back to their dorms. This is where we meet the ROOMMATE Rebecca (Leighton Meester.) Rebecca comes across innocent at first with no real reason for you to think otherwise. While the plot centers on Rebecca being obsessed with Sarah wanting to steal her identity, art is one thing they genuinely have in common. So Rebecca can draw art very well and that's all we get to know about her character other than she lives 20 minutes away and her parents are filthy rich and they don't get along. While Sarah and Rebecca are getting acquainted as roommates, Sarah begins to display her particular taste in life and Rebecca is taking mental notes. It feels like a friendship is starting to build until little by little Rebecca starts to mimic Sarah's behavior from illustrations of Sarah's favorite movie to copying her hair color. After a while, like any normal person, Sarah rations her time away with other friends from the college. This is where the s*^# starts to hit the fan. Rebecca of course doesn't like this and starts to become envious of everyone that is taking the time of her so called BFF. Like I said the psychotic behavior is starting to erupt but this is also the main problem of the film.

Rebecca is becoming jealous so she starts doing every SHE can think of to gain Sarah's attention again for her own psychotic gain. They range from body mutilation, harassing Rebecca's friends, and harming animals in a way that can't be imagined. I can only count a number of incidents towards Rebecca's insanity and in doing so her actions are left unresolved. There's really no aftermath to any of her behavior except one occasion where she manipulates Sarah's design instructor, but that was completely justified. It does take away from the point of the film. I wanted to be thrilled and turn in my seat, but I hardly moved. So much was left unanswered regarding Rebecca's behavior and back-story that instead of being scary the film turned into a comedy. When individuals lash out it's more entertaining to know where they came from and what exactly sent them over the edge. Jason was drowning while campers had sex, Freddy was burned alive for being a pedophile, and "The Count of Monte Cristo" was imprisoned for 13 years for crimes he did not commit. Those were justified. Why is Rebecca so crazy? It's not because her parents didn't love her. We're just told she's bipolar and takes medication. That by the way was brought up so remedial as if it was just saying, "make sure you guys buckle up, don't want a ticket." Scene by scene there are attempts to make Rebecca seem more sinister. Instead, I'm screaming, "GIVE ME MORE!" and that request is clearly ignored.

The climax came out of nowhere and it's build up jumped around like a king on a checkered board. Even so, the acting and reactions of someone trying to harm another person flew out of the window making me rationally clock out of the film. The roommate is barely entertaining and may make you say, "WOW" once or twice. The whole time I couldn't think of anything more than, "If this or this happened, it would've been much more entertaining." It's something that we have all seen before but a blessing none of us have to go through. There's a bad taste left in my mouth knowing how entertaining this film could have been if it didn't have the tight collar of a PG-13 rating. Not at all a must see in the least bit. There are plenty of films that surpassed this one in a foot race of the same genre leaving this one in last place. With all that being said, IT'S STILL JUST MY OPINION!!! 5/10 - Brandon Keith Avery

Wow this movie is bad. The writing is terrible and the acting is not much better than terrible. If you took any kid in school sat them down and told them to write a scary horror movie that is set on a university/college campus this is pretty much what they would come up with exactly. It is very predictable and you can see the attacks coming a mile away. Basically without ruining any of it I can say this is a girl who is obviously stuck with a roommate in college who she does not know but the chick turns out to be completely insane and tries to take over and keeps attacking and scaring her to death, almost literally to death. The movie is so stupid you will laugh at different places but it is not meant to be at all funny so this is just a terrible movie.

How bad was your college roommate? After Sara (Kelly) meets her new college roommate Rebecca (Meester) she thinks she has found a new friend. When Sara starts to do things without Rebecca strange things begin to happen. Let me first start by saying that this is not a bad movie, but it is definitely geared toward a specific age group, and it's not mine. For the 19-20 year olds this will be very creepy. For the older crowd this is a definite remake of "Single White Female", but in my opinion not as good. For those who have not seen that movie this will be very creepy. For those that have seen that movie you will notice the very similar scenes and ideas. Again this is actually not a bad movie, but if I was 10 years younger and a girl this would really scare me. If you are older like me and want to be creeped out by a movie like this one, I'd stick with the original "Single White Female". I will say the Leighton Meester, in a departure from her usual roles, did a really great job of playing a creepy stalker. I just could not really get in to this movie. I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I would, but it made me want to watch "Single White Female" again.

*Also Try - Kalamity & Single White Female

I went to see this movie expecting a good thriller, but man was I wrong. The opening comes right out of the blue. Its too fast paced. There is barely any storyline structure or memorable performances. NOT scary. NOT suspenseful. Pathetic and infested with forgettable acting. I can't even recommend this movie for a one night rental. The atmosphere is lifeless. The ending is so last minute thinking. The climax????!!? The climax had no ability to impress me. I regret ever spending my money on this disaster piece. There is not one unique thing this movie has to offer. I'll be surprised if anybody mentions this film's name in the future.

I just saw "The Roommate" with my best friend, who is not into scary movies at all. Myself being a Gossip Girl and scary movie buff absolutely had to see this movie.

Although this film was not necessarily scary, it was quite... disturbing. Disturbing in the sense that this movie was realistic. Leighton Meester was effective as a stalker obsessed friend from hell, and would have even freaked out Jennifer Jason Leigh. "The Roommate" was not gory, or very sexual, but had enough cringes and off putting parts to make you say "ooooh!" out loud.

my only real issue is most of the best scenes were shown in the trailer, and that by the end i felt sympathetic for Rebecca.

all in all "The Roommate" is "Single White Female" for teens, and is a great PG-13 thriller.

Lacking in suspense, answers, and any enjoyment from its "horror" label it's boasting, The Roommate is easily one of the worst thrillers in recent memory. It provides no backstory or any chemistry from the cast, and manages to drag on for ninety-one minutes. When a movie makes you think a ninety-one minute run time is insufferable, wow is it bad.

The Roommate's biggest problem is that it is one big tease. It is stamped with a PG-13 rating, when it could've passed for a PG in 1982. There is a shower scene that is incredibly drawn out, and desperately wants to show below the waist and higher than the stomach but can't. It doesn't want to be racy or good. The makeout scenes could very well win the worst sex award as well.

The plot is a girl named Sara (Kelly) is starting College and gets a new dorm. Simple enough. She seems normal; tattoo of her deceased sister on her breast (wouldn't be surprised if when she was having sex with someone they screamed out "Emily" by accident), wants to learn, make new friends, simple. Much to her surprise, she returns home from the club to find she has a new roommate named Rebecca (Meester) an uneasy adolescent who becomes increasingly fascinated with her roommate. She begins to go through her things and be very overprotective about her. Then Sara discovers why she is the way she is.

My one question to the people behind this - why don't we get backstory on Rebecca? Why doesn't the film focus more on her? She is easily the more interesting one, and when we do find out the secret, we assume more backstory will brew. Negatory. None. We are just as clueless as we were. The minor clue towards the end doesn't help matters, and only turns them into a convoluted barrage of questions.

There is an animal murder, and like in Drag Me To Hell, it's horrifying. Why do horror movies these days portray an animal in danger or helplessness? Why do even the crazy harm animals? Let alone why is it incorporated in the film? She could've just let the animal loose and things would still play out the same. Nope. We have to witness another dreadful and upsetting animal murder for no apparent reason.

No character in this movie is likable either because no one is developed to that point. The main character's parents aren't even mentioned, or called once in the film. But her dead sister and her ex boyfriend get mentions. Plus I can tell right now Minka Kelly, a beautiful woman, is sporting too much of a Jessica Alba/Megan Fox look. Her hair looks darkened and her lipstick looks like a Fox tribute. Her Alba-like face is natural, obviously. I'm pretty sure she is aware of it too.

The Roommate is exactly what is wrong with modern day horror movies. There is no contrived suspense or anything to make this even the slightest bit likable. Even Billy Zane who was good in The Final Destination can't make this miserable mess any better. If had an R rating it may have been a little bit more tolerable, but I'm doubtful on that. It is Fatal Attraction mixed with Single White Female, and it creates a disastrous and lame film.

Starring: Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet, Billy Zane, and Alyson Michalka. Directed by: Christian E. Christiansen.

I wanted to go see The Roommate....I was hoping it wasn't a typical, predictable movie. The acting was good...I think it was believable for the most and the actors a up and coming so it was nice to see a new set of faces. As for a new plot,I don't think so. It a pretty predictable movie, there is nothing new or fantastic about the movie. However its good for what it is which is a teen-thriller flick. There is definitely more that could have been done and it could have been a little more thrilling...to be honest it wasn't that scary! Its not really a horror....it barely classifies as a Thriller. If you want to go see a teen-thriller/psycho movie, this is a good choice however if youare in the mood for a possible Oscar movie or something to blow you away....this is definitely not for you!

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

'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.

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd0S1srQ9T8

Don't bother seeing this. It's awful.rip off to Single White Female.

This is a fun but predictable teenage thriller animated by stereotypical characters (obvious exception being the roommate).

The movie is kept interesting with the roommate's actions and growing obsession with the main character. Leighton Meester did a great job here, as I ended up feeling sympathy for her character and took her seriously. Unfortunately the movie is only after cheap thrills, don't expect much of a back-story.

The biggest flaw of the movie is the pacing. The introductions between the characters are so quick and cheesy that it's hard to care about any of them. It almost felt like the movie just wanted the introduction out of the way so it could get to the main plot as quickly as possible. I think this story would've worked better in a TV show format to allow smoother development. Everything feels so rushed here.

The movie is aiming at teenagers and adults, as if saying "hey come look at these normal college students deal with a crazy bitch". There is nothing deeper about this movie, but it's still a fun ride.

This is basically "Single White Female" in a college dorm, with less talented actors, and the murdered animal is a tiny black and white kitten instead of a puppy. Ugh. If I could leave no stars, I would.

I literally closed it the moment the kitten got hurt.