Review of The Apartment (1960) by Vijay L — 20 Feb 2010

If I was ever forced to make an all-time top movies list, there's almost no way that The Apartment wouldn't be very near the top of the list. The premise sounds simple enough, almost gimmicky - an ambitious insurance clerk figures out that letting his bosses use his apartment for affairs is a great way to get promoted.

But under the cynical, intelligent, funny hand of Billy Wilder, and with the incredible Jack Lemmon as Baxter, The Apartment manages to be both bracingly funny and absolutely heartrending, often within the space of a few lines.

One could probably argue that the best romance films start first with an understanding of loneliness, and The Apartment is acutely, painfully aware of what loneliness is like, and when it evokes it, it does so in a way that can't help but touch anyone who's been there.

What's most refreshing about The Apartment, then, is not just the bitter and hilarious humor, not just the smart writing, but the fact that it confronts genuine emotion, not Hollywood facsimiles, and does so honestly, not pulling any punches.

Anyone who's seen the movie knows that Wilder follows his tale through some dark areas, but without those, the film wouldn't have nearly the emotional wallop it has; even on this, my (at least) third or fourth viewing, I still find myself misty-eyed at Lemmon's one-sided conversation with MacMurray, or MacLaine's monologue about the uselessness of love.

And, oh, that ending...I could go on and on about The Apartment and never really run out of things to say about it. (Has Shirley MacLaine ever been this adorable and enchanting? I can't blame Lemmon at all - heck, I fall a little in love with Miss Kubelik every time I watch it.

) My favorite romance of all time, all the more for its honesty and pain to accompany the humor and the light. A rare thing: it's a perfect film.