Review of Joe's Apartment (1996) by Stuart K — 23 Apr 2012

Based on a 1992 short film broadcast on MTV, as well as a series of ad break bumpers on the channel, this is a film that combines silly musical numbers, CGI cockroaches and stop-motion animation into one 80 minute film.

It's a maddening mess, and it does become quite annoying after a while, you won't see a film like this again, it was made in a time when Hollywood and film producers didn't know any better.

It begins with college graduate Joe (Jerry O'Connell), who has just come in from Iowa, looking for fortune in New York. He finds no luck anywhere he looks, and he can't even find a place to stay either.

However, with a little bit of serendipity from his new found friend, artist Walter Shit (Jim Turner), he finds a very run down apartment in a building which is due to be knocked down by Senator Dougherty (Robert Vaughn), in order to make way for a massive prison.

However, with Joe now living in the apartment, it's made things difficult, and then Joe discovers his apartment is full of thousands of singing, talking cockroaches, led by Ralph (Billy West), who want to help Joe stand up to Dougherty and his plans, and then Joe falls for Dougherty's daughter Lily (Megan Ward).

This is essentially the same plot as *batteries not included (1987), with cockroaches replacing robotic aliens. It's too infantile and silly to hold your attention for such a short running time, and it does wear a bit thin after a time, it's a shame as it was a funny sounding concept too, but the execution is all wrong.