The Apartment [1960]

The Apartment is a 1960 romantic comedy written and directed by Billy Wilder. It tells the story of Baxter, a New York bachelor who often "rents" his apartment to his friends from the office, or better said, his bosses, out of courtesy, but also in hope of getting a promotion. His neighbors think he is a ladies man and is always partying, but they couldn't be farther from the truth, as Baxter is a sweet, rather naive, incapable of saying NO man.

Trouble and comedy arises when he finds out the woman he likes, Fran, the lady who runs the elevator at the office, is in a relationship with Sheldrake, the man responsible with promotions in the building, and, to make things worse, they are using his place to meet. After a quarrel between the two lovers in Baxter's apartment, she tries to kill herself, but the sweet young man comes in and saves the day, daring to do more and finally admit his feelings to her and to the older man.

As one would expect from a Billy Wilder script, it is funny, charming, full of misunderstandings, complications and hilarious situations. And although I haven't seen all of his movies, I still felt that it was too...Billy Wilder?!? His style is easy to recognise and this film frequently made me think "Hmm...I've seen/heard something like this before", plus the characters are very similar to the 50s comedies with Marilyn Monroe. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but it certainly wasn't refreshing or extremely interesting to watch (that being said, I also felt the movie went on a little too much, but maybe it was just me).

The casting was spot on, and I just adored the two leads, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Lemmon portrays the sweet and naive man in a very charming, entertaining way, and Shirley MacLaine as Fran, the sweet, sexy, sultry, sassy, lovely woman operating the elevator, was the standout for me- maybe because I have never seen her before in an early days film, but I thought she was remarkable. One thing that was off for me was the resolving of the conflict between the two the end- it felt a little bit rushed, I felt like the transition and his change would have been done better and more fluidly, and the romantic aspect could have been more explored.

To conclude, I can say The apartment is a perfectly enjoyable and sweet Billy Wilder romantic comedy that you will like, but not particularly be impressed by. Still, it is worth a watch!

"Why can't I fall in love with a nice guy like you?"

Hope Springs [2012]

Hope Springs is an easy romantic comedy, directed by David Frankel and written by Vanessa Taylor. It follws the story of Kay and Arnold, played by Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, a married couple who, after 31 years, don't have any passion or interest left to keep them together. Kay decides to change things and books a 1 week intensive program with doctor Feld played by Steve Carrell, hoping that her husband will learn to love and touch her again.

Hope Springs has an interesting script, a little bit static, but if you like in-depth analysis of relationships or personalities, then this is the movie for you. Moreover, it's a character study of the in and outs of people and some of their sessions are actually really interesting to witness, since thy uncover not only feelings and past situations, but also character traits and reasons behind some of the actions.

Although it is heavy on analysis, it does also feature funny, very awkwards scenes, that sometimes make you cringe, because well, they are older, and you feel like your parents could be like that, too. The cinema or the hotel room are just two examples of those kinds of moments.

Performance wise, as you would expect from a cast like this, eveything runs smoothly. Meryl Streep is just fascinated to watch; she plays a woman that does and knows everything, in the perfect housewife way, but hasn't actually experienced life. In one of the sessions, when she's tearing up, there is a close-up on the expression on her face- she showed years of experience and talent through one look, and that's just something that very few actresses nowadays can do; I love her. Tommy Lee Jones is Arnold, her husband, a very grumpy, complaining man, who's oblivious to his marriage problems. His chemistry with Streep was very good and believable and they worked perfectly with Steve Carrell, the third major actor. He gave a surprising performance, as he played a very serious part- I was actually expecting him to crack a joke or do something stupid, but no, he maintained his part throughout the movie and it kind of worked.

Overall, Hope Springs is a good movie that will make your night more pleasant, but of which you will forget in a day or two. Still worth checking it out, but maybe on DVD.