The Roommate

The Roommate
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Christian E. Christiansen
Written by	Sonny Mallhi
Produced by	Roy Lee Doug Davison Irene Yeung Sonny Mallhi
Starring	Leighton Meester Minka Kelly Cam Gigandet Aly Michalka Danneel Harris Katerina Graham Nina Dobrev Billy Zane
Cinematography	Phil Parmet
Edited by	Randy Bricker
Music by	John Frizzell
Production company	Vertigo Entertainment
Distributed by	Screen Gems
Release date	February 4, 2011 (2011-02-04)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$16 million
Box office	$40,492,759

The Roommate is a 2011 American thriller film directed by Christian E. Christiansen and starring Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet, Danneel Harris, Matt Lanter, and Aly Michalka. It was theatrically released on February 4, 2011. The film is an unofficial remake of the 1992 film Single White Female.

Plot

Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly) is starting her freshman year of college. She meets Tracy (Aly Michalka), Stephen (Cam Gigandet), her love interest, and Rebecca (Leighton Meester), her roommate. Initially, the girls begin to bond and Rebecca learns that Sara had an older sister, Emily, who died when Sara was 9. Sara has Emily's name tattooed on her body. She also has an ex-boyfriend, Jason (Matt Lanter), who keeps calling her to try to reconcile. As time goes on, Rebecca's obsession with Sara grows which causes her to become increasingly violent and that she tries to drive away anyone who could come between them.

Rebecca attacks Tracy in the shower and threatens to kill her unless she stays away from Sara. Tracy moves to another dorm, fearful of Rebecca. An old friend of Sara named Irene, who is also a homosexual girl, invites her to move in with them, but when Sara tells that to Rebecca, she plans to insure that Sara will stay with her by taking Sara's pet kitten, Cuddles, and puts him in a dryer (offscreen). Rebecca lies to Sara and tells her that the kitten ran away. When Sara's philandering fashion design professor (Billy Zane) kisses her, Rebecca plans to get the professor out of the picture to impress Sara by seducing him while recording their dialogue on a tape recorder to make it look like he was assaulting her. Later Rebecca lies once again to Sara by telling her she went looking for Cuddles but was assaulted by a street thug, when in reality, the wounds on Rebecca's body are self-inflicted. Sara feels bad for her and decides to spend the Thanksgiving with Rebecca.

During her stay, Sara overhears a conversation between Rebecca and her father (Tomas Arana), hinting Rebecca has had trouble making friends in the past. Rebecca's mother (Frances Fisher) mentions that Rebecca is supposed to be taking medication. Later, Sara and Rebecca encounter Maria (Nina Dobrev), an old friend of Rebecca whom Sara bares a striking resemblance to. She and Stephen later find a bottle of Zyprexa pills, which they find out is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. But the bottle is full, implying that Rebecca didn't take any pills. Sara, knowing that Rebecca is somehow delusional, decides to move in with Irene. Irene (Danneel Harris) goes to a club where she sees Rebecca. They kiss in the club's bathroom and Irene, not knowing that Rebecca is Sara's roommate, goes back to her place. The following morning, Sara goes to Irene's place but she does not answer.

Rebecca gets Sara's sister's name tattooed in the same place on her body as Sara. A shocked Sara realizes that Rebecca is obsessed with her and packs all her things, except her sister's necklace, which she can't find (being later revealed that the necklace had been stolen from her by Rebecca). Jason arrives at Sara's dorm and slips a note under her door, saying that he wants to see her. Rebecca reads the note, impersonates Sara with her sister's necklace and tattoo, and dyes her hair to look like Sara. She then goes to Jason's hotel room, and stabs him.

Later, Sara gets a text from Irene, saying she needs her right away. Sara informs Stephen she will be at Irene's place. When she gets there, she finds Irene held hostage by Rebecca with a pistol. Rebecca reveals that she was responsible for what happened to Tracy, Cuddles, the professor, and Jason and that she did it all to win Sara's friendship. When Sara apologizes, Rebecca forgives her, but wants to kill Irene in order to finally have Sara all to herself. Stephen arrives just in time to help stop Rebecca from pulling the trigger on Irene.

In the ongoing struggle, Stephen is knocked unconscious and Sara is left dangling out of the window. Although Rebecca pulls Sara back to safety, Sara reaches for the pistol to shoot Rebecca, knowing how homicidal she is and that she will continue to harm others close to her; however, the cartridge is empty. Enraged at this, Rebecca attacks Sara and attempts to strangle her, but Sara stabs Rebecca in the back with a boxcutter whispering "You were never my friend." And kills her.

Sara moves back into her dorm and moves the extra bed out of her room, proclaiming that she does not want a roommate for a while.

Cast

• Minka Kelly as Sara Matthews
• Leighton Meester as Rebecca Evans
• Cam Gigandet as Stephen
• Danneel Harris as Irene Crew
• Matt Lanter as Jason Tanner
• Aly Michalka as Tracy Morgan
• Katerina Graham as Kim
• Cherilyn Wilson as Landi Rham
• Jerrika Hinton as Shiana
• Ryan Doom as Rick Shaefer the gas station attendant
• Elena Franklin as Jessica Smith
• Carrie Finklea as Marina Hudgens
• Billy Zane as Professor Roberts
• Frances Fisher as Alison Evans
• Tomas Arana as Jeff Evans
• Nina Dobrev as Maria
• Jennifer Cadena as Dorm R.A.
• Lauren Storm as Maria's Girlfriend
• Evan Brown as Band Member
• Johannes Raassina as Band Member
• Cam Brousseau as Band Member
• Cindy Brunson as Reporter

Production

The film was shot on location at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Leighton Meester was originally set to play Sara but was replaced by Minka Kelly, then Meester took the role of Rebecca. Cam Gigandet and Alyson Michalka previously starred alongside each other in another Screen Gems film, Easy A. Nina Dobrev confirmed via Twitter that she filmed a scene, however the scene does not feature her with The Vampire Diaries castmate, Katerina Graham, who also co-stars in the film. Billy Zane and Frances Fisher had both starred together in Titanic thirteen years earlier.

Release

The film was originally planned to be released on September 17, 2010, but was moved to February 4, 2011. The trailer can be seen with Devil and Burlesque.

Box office

Opening in 2,534 theaters, the film grossed $15.6 million its opening weekend to take first place at the box office. Its distributor estimated that females under the age of 21 accounted for two-thirds of its audience. At the end of its run in 2011 the film grossed $37,300,107 in the United States and Canada and $3,192,652 in other countries for a worldwide total of $40,492,759.

Home media

The Roommate was released on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and digital download in North America on May 17, 2011.

Reception

The Roommate was given almost universally negative reviews by critics; it is currently rated at 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 81 reviews with a consensus of it being "Devoid of chills, thrills, or even cheap titillation, The Roommate isn't even bad enough to be good." CinemaScore polls indicated a "B−" rating from audiences.

Keith Staskiewicz of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D, saying it "is really just a far-below-par thriller that desperately wishes it were a different movie – a longing it shares with the audience," but praises Meester for bringing "the slightest trace of something fascinating to her role. When she smiles, it's perfectly located between a sweet display of affection and a snarling warning." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave it a half star, stating that "The Roommate – the umpteenth uncredited remake of 1992's Single White Female – sucks bad, real bad" and that "Danish director Christian E. Christiansen has no flair for suspense". Meester's performance garnered praise from other top critics, including the Los Angeles Times, which states: "Here her performance often has the feeling of a sports car in neutral. When she punches it for quick changes of tone from manic to wounded or around the bend, she shows how much more she is capable of." Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert called Leighton Meester's character "A combination between Lindsay Lohan and Amy Fisher".

Controversy

Some of the promotional posters and displays for the film used as its backdrop the Christy Administration Building from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. The college administration voiced concern that permission to use the photograph of the building was not properly obtained and is currently investigating the legality of its use.

Primary concerns hinge that the image of the college (particularly the image of the building) could be damaged, while other concerns are that the college's primary iconic image is being used for promotion of an unrelated business venture.

After initial success became realized when the film earned $15.6 million in receipts to top the box office during its debut weekend in the United States, concerns continued. By that time, the image of the building had been replaced on the film's official website and on subsequent promotional material. The photo of the building reportedly was licensed from iStockPhoto based in Calgary, Alberta. As of February 8, 2011, no lawsuits have been filed but discussions have taken place.

Students at the school are reporting "mixed feelings" about the topic – some believe that it may be helpful for the college and others report that they can see how it may be harmful to the school's image.

External links

• Official website
• The Roommate at IMDb
• The Roommate at AllMovie
• The Roommate at Box Office Mojo
• The Roommate at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Roommate at Metacritic