Review of Apartment Zero (1989) by Larry M — 27 Mar 2011

I hadn't seen this since back in the dark ages, and it was kind of interesting to see a young Colin Firth in one of his earliest roles. He plays Adrian LeDuc, the owner of a cinema in Buenos Aires whose business has fallen on hard times. In order to increase his cash flow, he decides to rent out the room in his apartment that once belonged to his mother, who is now inststutionalized. He gets more than he bargained for in the person of Jack Carney (Hart Bochner), an American who claims to work for a computer company, but whose hours of work are very irregular. LeDuc eventually becomes quite dependent on Carney, who also ingratiates himself with many of LeDuc's neighbours. Carney is a cool customer, except when he wakes up screaming from nightmares and has to be consoled by LeDuc. The two men develop a weird, symbiotic relationship and when it inevitably turns out that Carney is not who he claims to be, LeDuc is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the man he sees as his only friend.

Not a great film by any means, but an intriguing one, made all the more so by the beautiful Buenos Aires locations.