Hopefully in the next few weeks I will get a better schedule down for these reviews.  I don’t generally watch movies until I am really in the mood.  In the future I will try to get them out around Sunday but it depends on when I get around to watching them.

This week we have a fine selection.  A British film called ‘Withnail and I’ and Billy Wilder’s classic ‘The Apartment.’

Withnail and I (1987)

Withnail and Marwood are struggling out of work actors.  They’re living off the state, spending most of their time drinking or out of their minds on drugs.  One day they get fed up and Withnail suggests that they escape the city and flee to his Uncle Monty’s house.  They go there and it turns into a spectacular misadventure.  Especially when Withnail’s gay uncle arrives and Marwood realizes that it is himself Monty is after.

Withnail and I is one of those rare films that can get by largely on the strength of its characters and dialogue without a lot of messy plot.  The film abounds with great quirky lines such as “My thumbs have gone weird!”  It could be described as Fear and Loathing in an English Hamlet.    It is subtly comedic and surprisingly uplifting at the same time.  There is something quite empowering about seeing characters who can soldier on in the face of adversity.  Or at least keep goofing off.  This is a film that I buying and revisiting in the not too distant future.

Netflix Rating: 5 Stars

The Apartment(1960)

Jack Lemon stars as C.C. Baxter, a clerk in an insurance firm trying to claw his way up the corporate ladder.  Baxter has an ace up his sleeve.  In order to ingratiate himself with his superiors he allows them to use his apartment to carry out extramarital affairs.  It is a difficult scheme to maintain.  He spends less time in his own apartment than his corporate superiors.  It’s a bit like having roommates that don’t pay rent and are never around to clean up the place and expect you to buy all of the booze.  Baxter looks like he has it made but trouble ensues when he falls for his boss’s mistress.

You might be asking why don’t the men just check into a motel to carry out their affairs?  Well back in the day hotels didn’t allow this kind of behavior.  They actually had “hotel detectives” that knocked on doors and made sure all of the couples staying there were married.  They also wouldn’t rent by the hour.  The subject of infidelity was also considered taboo in movies for decades prior to the release of The Apartment.

Now this film may sound a bit dated but don’t let that deter you from watching it.  The Apartment is a brilliant mixture of comedy and drama.  It was nominated for ten oscars and won five.  It also stands out as one of the finest works by writer/director Billy Wilder(Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot).  The acting is phenomenal.  There is something about Jack Lemon that makes him particularly suited to this role.  He is charming and likable, an every man that is clearly in over his head.  Shirley MacLaine is troubled love interest who is just as much of a star.

As much as things have changed since the Apartments release in 1960 more things have remained the same.  What keeps this movie fresh and relevant today is its attention to the human condition.  This is a movie about love and relationships that doesn’t try to simplify those things.

Netflix Rating: 5 Stars