The Apartment

Rating:
Summary: "Shut up and deal..."
Review: This movie, directed by the legendary Billy Wilder, is one of my all-time favorites. It features a funny script, great acting, and an interesting and original plot. The Apartment is a perfect example of what is missing in Hollywood today: it is a witty, entertaining movie that relies on the script and on the acting to keep the viewer's attention and consequently does not need to use obscene language or inappropriate scenes to be amusing!

Essentially, The Apartment is about a young insurance company worker (played by Jack Lemmon in an excellent performance) who is forced to allow his philandering bosses to use his apartment on dates. In exchange for allowing his bosses to use the apartment, Lemmon is recommended to recieve promotions. Things get more complicated, however, when the bigger boss, Sheldrake (played by Fred McMurray) gets involved in the apartment renting. This would seem like a good thing for Lemmon - but there is one problem: McMurray (who is married and has no plans of divorcing) is dating Lemmon's dream girl, the beautiful elevator operator at the company (played by Shirley MacLaine). To say any more would be to give too much away...

In addition to having an intertaining plot and a funny, sarcastic script (like most Billy Wilder movies), The Apartment features amazing performances by all of its actors, especially Lemmon and MacLaine.

So I don't know how else to recommend this movie - get it soon and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: An all-time classic!!
Review: I'm speechless...this is one of the all-time great movies! Billy Wilder creates a masterpiece that is both a comedy but also a cynical look at business in New York in the '60's. Jack Lemmon is amazing as C.C. Baxter, and Shirley MacLaine lights up the screen as Fran Kubelik! The two of them together have the greatest chemistry; if only we could see that in a picture today. I'm young, but I know a fantastic movie when I see one.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific movie
Review: Lemmon and MacLaine are great in this movie. It's adorable, sad, and funny. It's also great to see an old-style office. I loved it. This is the perfect movie for a quiet evening in lieu of a book. It's a classic that any fan of Lemmon, MacLaine, or Wilder should own. You can't watch it just once.

Rating:
Summary: Comedy or Film Noir?
Review: Billy Wilder was the master at this kind of film which falls into the genre of Dark Comedy. It's not too dark, but it's certainly not the Stooges, either. Jack Lemmon gives a truly magnificent performance as the lowly employee for a major insurance company with a desire for the key to the executive washroom, but that involves him sharing one of his keys, the key to his apartment.Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray provide the film noir elements. They are both good, especially MacMurray as the cynical top executive of the company. MacLaine is the good girl who does bad, and the audience is pulled into her drama in a very sympathetic way, thanks to one of the best directors of film noir (see Double Indemnity or Sunset Boulevard). But this movie is really a comedy. Lemmon provides some truly hilarious scenes that seem to steer precariously close to tragedy, and that is what I think makes this movie so great. Of course, tragedy is averted, as it always is in comedies, even dark ones.

Rating:
Summary: They don't make them like this anymore!
Review: I just watched this for the first time last night. Definitely one of the best movies I've ever watched. Once again, Billy Wilder sets a high bar for other directors to reach, and unfortunately, so few do.

Rating:
Summary: Mr Hopeful: "I gotsm paper towels." Mrs Dreyfus: "Beatnik."
Review: "The Apartment" is a well-executed film presenting real human dilemmas handled in comical fashion. C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) has himself in a pickle in both a practical and moral sense. He often can't get to his NYC apartment until late at night because he's lent it to married, upper-level personnel from work. They want a place to take girlfriends. Baxter doesn't seem to know how to say no to these higher-ups; besides, he's hoping his largesse will lead to a promotion. The demand for his apartment becomes a real burden on him. And it gets worse. In a superbly delivered twist of plot, a really big cheese, Mr Sheldrake of Personnel (on the 27th floor), asks for the apartment key--offering Baxter two Broadway tickets in exchange. Baxter reluctantly agrees but then seeks to turn the situation in his favor by asking an attractive elevator girl out to the play. But she also happens to be the girl Sheldrake was hoping to bring to the apartment. Baxter's moral dilemma arises from these circumstances.

There is great acting all around: Lemmon does one of his very best nervously funny characters; watch him make spaghetti. Shirley McClaine is sweet and vulnerable; Fred MacMurray is a real cad--with irresistible charm. The characters of Dr. and Mrs. Dreyfus (Baxter's neighbors) are funny yet wise. Ray Walston is great too.

I'm not a big Jack Lemmon fan but it's hard not to like this film; it's done so well in every respect.

Rating:
Summary: "Be a mensch!"
Review: On March 27, 2002, as the world has sadly learned, filmmaker Billy Wilder passed away. No doubt, over the passing days, weeks, months and years, there will be some discussion about him and of his work. There will also be biographies, documentaries and other tributes to him. I believe, however, that he should be left to rest in peace and that the only true monument to him is in the great movies he left to us. One of these is 1960's "The Apartment". Some might disagree with this film's Best Picture win (Considering that it was the same year as "Psycho", "Elmer Gantry" and "Spartacus"), but it's a great movie nonetheless.

Jack Lemmon, In a memorable role, portrays C.C Baxter, an insurance man for Consolidated Insurance in New York. Baxter has a secret: He has been lending the key to his apartment to various executives so they could have extra-martial affairs. In exchange, Baxter's career advances so far that by the movie's end, he is the boss's executive. Shirley MacLaine is elevator girl Fran Kubelik, who has had a romance with Baxter's boss. Even though the boss is a real weasel (More on him and the actor in the next paragraph), Kubelik thinks she still loves him at the end. However, she doesn't realize that she actually has fallen for Baxter.

Fred MacMurray will probably be most remembered for his role on "My Three Sons". His early film career also involved largely comedic roles. Ironically, his most memorable film roles, like "Double Indemnity" and "The Caine Mutiny", had him adapt to villainous roles, which he did real well. Here, he portrays J.D Sheldrake, the personal manger at the Insurance company. He is a real liar, using people to get to the top (Where he is at) and having flings with others at the building. With his looks and smile, however, you would think that he could have easily played a good guy. Shows just how good of an actor he was (Or was the part just a good fit?). Unfortunately, he joined the ranks of actors who never won Oscars.

Wilder's films had a common theme of people willing to do anything for happiness, even if it means breaking the law. Here, the story is about someone willing to give up his bachelor flat for a higher position at his job. In expense, he loses the trust of those around him. The main character here, like Walter Neff in "Double Indemnity" also have a similar flaw: They don't know what to do until it's too late and they never take a stand on something. Wilder's films also had great endings, often with dialogue. The final line in this film ("Shut up and deal!") has become nearly as famous as 'Nobody's Perfect'. Now that's movie making!

References to previous Wilder films made in this one:

Mr. Dobisch (Ray Walston), one of the executives, remarks that he picked up a girl that looked like Marilyn Monroe, who was in "The Seven Year Itch" and "Some Like It Hot". During the filming of those movies, Wilder had grown to despise Monroe's demands for star treatment and her poor work ethic. Thus, he also included the party-girl Monroe-esque character in this film.

Another of the executives, Mr. Kirkeby (David Lewis), saw Baxter with Kubelik at his apartment and remarks that they had a "Lost Weekend", a possible reference to the 1945 film that won Wilder Best Director and Best Picture academy awards.

The character name Sheldrake was also used in Sunset Blvd. (1950).

Rating:
Summary: A Wilder Masterpiece
Review: Last night brought the news of Billy Wilder's death. According to his NY Times obituary, Wilder spent the last 20 years of his life begging for the money to make another movie: they gave him all the achievement awards you could think of, but no opportunity for another film.

When you watch "The Apartment", you'll see why. It's funny, sad, acid, sophisticated, thoughtful, witty, with acting that you'll never forget: a truly grown-up movie, the kind of movie that leaves the viewer a little wiser than he was before he watched it. Hollywood doesn't make that kind of movie any more.

Buy it. Watch it. You'll laugh and cry - and you'll wonder just what happened to the movie business, that theaters are filled with rubbish like "Blade II" while Billy Wilder begged for work.

Rating:
Summary: Thats the way it crumbles, cookie wise!
Review: "The Apartment" is one of the most wonderful movies ever. Jack Lemmon and Shirley McLaine are so absolutely adorable you can watch them over and over again. The Apartment has something for everybody. And who can forget those hysterical and sweet lines like "shutup and deal", "Don't meantion that to the guys in the office, I wouldn't want them to get the wrong idea about how you found out" and my favorite...."thats the way it crumbles, cookie wise." Most people my age are renting "Road Trip" or "Big Momma's house" , but they can't compare to the most romanitc, funny, ingenious classic of all time, "The Apartment"

Rating:
Summary: The Apartment
Review: Perhaps Billy Wilder's best. Combines humor and pathos, with great acting -- particularly Fred MacMurray as the creep. Billy and I.A.L. Diamond (Billy's co-writer) made one of the best movies of the 20th century. It's right up there with Citizen Kane, High Noon, Casablanca, and -- surprise! -- The Stuntman and The Wild Bunch, among others.