The Roommate

The first day of college begins promisingly for young art student Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly). She seems to have a room all to herself in the dorm, and she quickly makes a new friend in Tracy (Alyson Michalka). When she meets handsome musician Stephen (Cam Gigandet) at a party that evening and sparks quickly fly, the day seems perfect. But when she returns to her room, she discovers she has a roommate after all. The quiet Rebecca (Leighton Meester) makes a sympathetic impression on Sara, who should probably not be a big disturbing factor. But far from it: Rebecca is not satisfied with being Sara's roommate. She also wants to be her best and above all only friend - at any price!

There are always movies where you wonder how they make it to the cinema, while many much better flicks are burned directly for home cinema. "The Roommate" is just such a case. There's hardly an element to it that would warrant a trip to the cinema. Certainly, that already familiar material is rejuvenated for multiplex-beleaguering teenagers is nothing new. That most of these films tend to disappoint in terms of quality is also no secret. And yet, the whole thing is somehow annoying time and time again. So is this teen variant of "Female, single, young.seeking". The production is uninspired and completely lacking in tension, the actors act woodenly and the script ticks off one cliché after another.

While Dane Christian E. Christiansen truly doesn't cover himself in glory with his U.S. debut, at least the actors should have been reason enough for at least the target audience to pick up a movie ticket. Because Leighton Meester, known from the series "Gossip Girl", as well as Minka Kelly, actress in the highly acclaimed series "Friday Night Lights" and Cam Gigandet ("Twilight") have been quite convincing in their previous works and thus gained a loyal fan base. But "The Roommate", with its flat dialogue and contrived dramaturgy, offers none of the actors even a hint of an opportunity to show off more than an attractive appearance.

In addition, the fact that the production - precisely because it is aimed at teenagers - has turned out to be absolutely prudish has a negative impact. This does not only seem mendacious in a certain way, but simply boring. For an entertaining DVD evening, the film with its certain trash factor might just work. But in the cinema such a work has nothing to lose. Therefore: even for the intended target group hardly recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp