Featured DVD Review: Roommate Wanted

May 18, 2015

Roommate Wanted - Buy from Amazon: DVD

Good Kill

I've reviewed lots of films over the years, including many that were small films that likely slipped below most people's radar. Roommate Wanted is one of those films. Despite having leads that certainly have more name recognition than most smaller films have, this film still doesn't have a single review on Rotten Tomatoes. Is there are reason this film is so unknown? Or is it a hidden gem?

The Movie

The film begins with Janie beating the crap out of Dee, with a short voice-over from the two of them. We then jump back in to where this started.

We see Janie get up early in the morning and get ready for her day. She is trying to get into Stansbury College and has an interview with Dr. Hoffman. She's got impeccable grades and years of extra curricular activities to help her get the scholarship she needs. Dee, on the other hand, gets up at 10 am and heads off to the gym. She's a "model", but she mostly goes to the gym to pick up guys. In fact, she is in the middle of that when Janie comes home. It's clear the pair have been living together long enough that their personality quirks have been getting on each other's nerves. Dee is a flake and Janie is uptight, to understate things. For instance, Janie put red and gold stars on all of the food in the fridge, so they don't accidentally eat each other's food.

Janie does get the call from the school and she won a scholarship, a half-scholarship. Unfortunately, she can't afford to cover the other half. She's understandably bummed about this, until Dee complains that Janie put gold stars on each egg. It doesn't even matter, because Janie is a vegan and won't eat Dee's eggs. However, when Dee complains, it reminds Janie that she once sold her eggs to a couple. If she did that again, she would have the money to go to university. The pair of them look for potential buyers and while Janie struggles to find one that will pay her enough to cover tuition, Dee find a couple looking willing to pay $50,000. This should be just what Janie needs, but the conflict between the two roommates begins to boil over and Dee decides to apply as an egg donor for the same couple. Now the two will do whatever it takes to make sure the other doesn't get selected.

I've reviewed a number of releases that starred Alexa Vega or Spencer Grammer in them and I've enjoyed a lot of the work they've done. It isn't surprising that the pair's performances are definitely the best part of the film. (That's not to say Richard Riehle or Kathryn Morris are not good; it is just that their roles are way too short to make much of an impact.) Unfortunately, these two have almost nothing to work with. The first (roughly) half of the movie is mostly setup, but it just doesn't work. Not enough happens to hold your attention, which is a serious problem. Additionally, while we are supposed to get to know the characters better during this part of the movie, we don't get a good reason to stick around and care about what happens to them. When the "catfight" starts in the second half of the film, I just didn't care. I didn't care about these characters and I don't find catfights titillating. If the fighting parts were well-staged and creatively executed, I would have at least been engaged, but that wasn't the case. So even if you are excited about two women fighting, there are seriously better options out there.

In the meantime, I'm going to watch Repo! while waiting for the next project for these two actresses.

The Extras

There are no extras on this DVD.

The Verdict

Roommate Wanted has good actors wasted on a weak script. Not enough happens before the payoff and once the catfight starts, it was not executed well enough to draw me into the action. The DVD has no extras, so even if you are a fan of the genre, a rental will be enough.


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Filed under: Video Review, Roommate Wanted, Kathryn Morris, Richard Riehle, Alexa Vega, Spencer Grammer