The Roommate
Encyclopedia
The Roommate is a 2011 thriller film directed by Christian E. Christiansen
Christian E. Christiansen
-Biography:A graduate of Kalundborg Gymnasium and the National Film School of Denmark, he worked in lower positions on a number of Danish films before producing his first hit movie, Nynne , a comedy directed by Jonas Elmer...

 and starring Minka Kelly
Minka Kelly
Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress. She starred in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity from 2006 to 2009 and has also had roles in The Roommate and the reboot series Charlie's Angels.-Early life:Kelly was born in Los Angeles...

, Leighton Meester
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. Meester first garnered attention for playing Blair Waldorf in the CW television series Gossip Girl...

, Cam Gigandet
Cam Gigandet
Cam Joslin Gigandet is an American actor, whose roles have included Twilight, The O.C., Never Back Down, The Roommate, Burlesque and Priest.- Career :...

, Danneel Harris
Danneel Harris
Danneel Ackles , better known by her stage name Danneel Harris, is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles as Shannon McBain on One Life to Live and Rachel Gatina on One Tree Hill.-Early life:Elta Danneel Graul was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and was raised in the small...

, Matt Lanter
Matt Lanter
Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter is an American actor, former reality TV personality and model, perhaps best known for his roles in Commander in Chief, 90210, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disaster Movie, Sorority Row and Vampires Suck.-Early life and career:Lanter was born in Massillon, Stark...

, and Aly Michalka. It was theatrically released on February 4, 2011. The film is a unofficial remake of the 1992 film Single White Female
Single White Female
Single White Female is a 1992 American erotic thriller based on John Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is directed by Barbet Schroeder.-Plot:...

.

Plot

Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly
Minka Kelly
Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress. She starred in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity from 2006 to 2009 and has also had roles in The Roommate and the reboot series Charlie's Angels.-Early life:Kelly was born in Los Angeles...

) is starting her freshman year of college. She meets Tracy (Aly Michalka), Stephen (Cam Gigandet
Cam Gigandet
Cam Joslin Gigandet is an American actor, whose roles have included Twilight, The O.C., Never Back Down, The Roommate, Burlesque and Priest.- Career :...

), her love interest, and Rebecca (Leighton Meester
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. Meester first garnered attention for playing Blair Waldorf in the CW television series Gossip Girl...

), her psycho roommate. Initially, the girls begin to bond and Rebecca learns that Sara had an older sister, Emily, who died when Sara was 9. She has Emily's name tattooed on her body. She also has an ex-boyfriend, Jason (Matt Lanter
Matt Lanter
Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter is an American actor, former reality TV personality and model, perhaps best known for his roles in Commander in Chief, 90210, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disaster Movie, Sorority Row and Vampires Suck.-Early life and career:Lanter was born in Massillon, Stark...

), who keeps calling her to reconcile. As time goes on, Rebecca's obsession with Sara grows and she tries to drive away anyone who could come between them.

Rebecca attacks Tracy in the shower and threatens to kill her unless she stays away from Sara. Tracy, fearing for her life, moves to another dorm. When Sara's philandering interior design
Interior design
Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...

 professor (Billy Zane
Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...

) kisses her, Rebecca seduces him, while recording their dialogue on a tape recorder
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...

 to make it look like he was assaulting her. Later Rebecca claims to have been attacked in order to gain the sympathy of Sara, in reality the wounds are self inflicted. Sara, feeling bad, decides to spend Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...

 with Rebecca and her family.

During her stay, Sara overhears a conversation between Rebecca and her father (Tomas Arana
Tomas Arana
-Life and career:Arana was born in Auburn, California. He grew up in San Francisco and studied classical theatre at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater and at the City College of San Francisco. Afterwards he relocated to New York and acted in off-Broadway productions...

), hinting Rebecca has had trouble making friends in the past. Rebecca's mother (Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...

) mentions Rebecca is supposed to be taking medication. Sara and Stephen later find a bottle of Zyprexa pills. They find out it is used to treat schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...

 and bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...

, but, as the bottle is full, Rebecca has not been taking them. Then Irene goes to a club and sees Rebecca and they kiss in the clubs bathroom and, not knowing that she is Sara's roommate they go to Irenes place. The following morning Sara goes to Irenes place but she does not answer.

Rebecca gets Sara's sister's name tattooed in the same place on her body as Sara. Sara, shocked and upset, packs all her things, except her sister's necklace, which she can't find, and moves in with Stephen. Later, Stephen and Sara find Rebecca's sketchbook filled with sketches of Sara's images. Jason arrives at Sara's dorm and slips a note under her door, saying he wants to see her. Rebecca reads the note, poses as Sara with her sister's necklace, the tattoo, and her newly-dyed hair, and goes to Jason's hotel room. She stabs him to death with a boxcutter.

Sara gets a text from her friend, Irene, saying she needs her right away. Sara informs Stephen she will be at Irene's place. When she gets there, she finds Irene held hostage by Rebecca with a pistol. Rebecca reveals that she was responsible for what happened to Tracy, the professor, and Jason and that she did it all to win Sara's friendship. When Sara apologizes, Rebecca forgives her but wants to kill Irene. Stephen arrives just in time to help stop Rebecca from pulling the trigger on Irene.

In the ongoing struggle, Stephen is knocked unconscious and Sara is left dangling out of the window. Although Rebecca pulls Sara back to safety, Sara reaches for the pistol to shoot Rebecca; however, the cartridge is empty. Enraged, Rebecca attacks Sara and attempts to strangle her. Sara stabs Rebecca with a boxcutter whispering "You were never my friend." Sara moves back into her dorm and moves the extra bed out of her room, proclaiming that she does not want a roommate for a while.

Cast

  • Minka Kelly
    Minka Kelly
    Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress. She starred in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity from 2006 to 2009 and has also had roles in The Roommate and the reboot series Charlie's Angels.-Early life:Kelly was born in Los Angeles...

     as Sara Matthews
  • Leighton Meester
    Leighton Meester
    Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. Meester first garnered attention for playing Blair Waldorf in the CW television series Gossip Girl...

     as Rebecca Evans
  • Cam Gigandet
    Cam Gigandet
    Cam Joslin Gigandet is an American actor, whose roles have included Twilight, The O.C., Never Back Down, The Roommate, Burlesque and Priest.- Career :...

     as Stephen
  • Danneel Harris
    Danneel Harris
    Danneel Ackles , better known by her stage name Danneel Harris, is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles as Shannon McBain on One Life to Live and Rachel Gatina on One Tree Hill.-Early life:Elta Danneel Graul was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and was raised in the small...

     as Irene Crew
  • Matt Lanter
    Matt Lanter
    Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter is an American actor, former reality TV personality and model, perhaps best known for his roles in Commander in Chief, 90210, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disaster Movie, Sorority Row and Vampires Suck.-Early life and career:Lanter was born in Massillon, Stark...

     as Jason Tanner
  • Aly Michalka as Tracy Morgan
  • Katerina Graham
    Katerina Graham
    Katerina Alexandre "Kat" Graham is an American actress, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and model. She has appeared in numerous television shows and film productions, as well as music videos...

     as Kim
  • Cherilyn Wilson as Landi Rham
  • Jerrika Hinton as Shiana
  • Ryan Doom as Rick Shaefer
  • Elena Franklin as Jessica Smith
  • Carrie Finklea as Marina Hudgens
  • Billy Zane
    Billy Zane
    William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...

     as Professor Roberts
  • Frances Fisher
    Frances Fisher
    Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...

     as Alison Evans
  • Tomas Arana
    Tomas Arana
    -Life and career:Arana was born in Auburn, California. He grew up in San Francisco and studied classical theatre at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater and at the City College of San Francisco. Afterwards he relocated to New York and acted in off-Broadway productions...

     as Jeff Evans
  • Nina Dobrev
    Nina Dobrev
    Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...

     as Maria
  • Jennifer Cadena as Dorm R.A.
  • Lauren Storm
    Lauren Storm
    Lauren Marlene Storm is an American actress. She appeared on several television shows, before being cast as Taylor Hagan on the Discovery Kids series Flight 29 Down.-Early life:...

     as Maria's Girlfriend
  • Evan Brown
    Shaimus
    Shaimus is an alternative rock band that formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 2004. They are best known for their songs "All of This" and "Like a Fool," which appeared in Guitar Hero and Rock Band 2, respectively...

     as Band Member
  • Johannes Raassina
    Shaimus
    Shaimus is an alternative rock band that formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 2004. They are best known for their songs "All of This" and "Like a Fool," which appeared in Guitar Hero and Rock Band 2, respectively...

     as Band Member
  • Cam Brousseau
    Shaimus
    Shaimus is an alternative rock band that formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 2004. They are best known for their songs "All of This" and "Like a Fool," which appeared in Guitar Hero and Rock Band 2, respectively...

     as Band Member
  • Cindy Brunson
    Cindy Brunson
    -Biography:Brunson graduated from Washington State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast communications.-Broadcasting career:Cindy Brunson joined ESPN as an ESPNEWS anchor in September 1999. Until recently, Brunson served as co-host alongside David Lloyd on the network's weekend...

     as Reporter
  • Ryan Doom as Rick the Gas Station attendant (uncredited)

Production

The film was shot on location at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Leighton Meester
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. Meester first garnered attention for playing Blair Waldorf in the CW television series Gossip Girl...

 was originally set to play Sara but was replaced by Minka Kelly
Minka Kelly
Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress. She starred in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity from 2006 to 2009 and has also had roles in The Roommate and the reboot series Charlie's Angels.-Early life:Kelly was born in Los Angeles...

, then Meester took the role of Rebecca. Cam Gigandet
Cam Gigandet
Cam Joslin Gigandet is an American actor, whose roles have included Twilight, The O.C., Never Back Down, The Roommate, Burlesque and Priest.- Career :...

 and Alyson Michalka
Alyson Michalka
Alyson Renae "Aly" Michalka , often credited as Aly, is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and musician. Michalka gained fame for playing the role of Marti Perkins in the CW television drama Hellcats...

 previously starred alongside each other in another Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....

 film, Easy A
Easy A
Easy A is a 2010 teen comedy film written by Bert V. Royal, directed by Will Gluck, and starring Emma Stone. The screenplay was partially inspired by the novel The Scarlet Letter. The film was shot at Screen Gems studios and in Ojai, California. Screen Gems distributed with a release on...

. Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev is a Bulgarian-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mia Jones, the single teenage mother, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, from the show's sixth to ninth season...

 confirmed via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 that she filmed a scene, however the scene does not feature her with The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...

 castmate, Katerina Graham
Katerina Graham
Katerina Alexandre "Kat" Graham is an American actress, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and model. She has appeared in numerous television shows and film productions, as well as music videos...

, who also co-stars in the film. Billy Zane
Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...

 and Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...

 had both starred together in Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...

 thirteen years earlier.

Release

The film was originally planned to be released on September 17, 2010, but was moved to February 4, 2011. The trailer
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...

 can be seen with Devil
Devil (film)
Devil is a 2010 American supernatural horror film directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by Brian Nelson based on a story by M. Night Shyamalan. The film stars Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara and Geoffrey Arend...

 and Burlesque
Burlesque (film)
Burlesque is a 2010 musical film directed and written by Steven Antin and starring Christina Aguilera and Cher. The film was released on November 24, 2010 in North America....

.

Opening in 2,534 theaters, the film grossed $15.6 million its opening weekend to take first place at the box office. Its distributor estimated that females under the age of 21 accounted for two-thirds of its audience.

Reception

The Roommate was given almost universally negative reviews by critics; it is currently rated at 4% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

, based on 81 reviews with a consensus of it being "Devoid of chills, thrills, or even cheap titillation, The Roommate isn't even bad enough to be good." CinemaScore
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.-Background:...

 polls indicated a "B−" rating from audiences.

The film was originally rated R, but both Minka Kelly and Leighton Meester appealed with the film rating board not to and that they would change it in order to give it an PG-13 rating.

Keith Staskiewicz of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

 gave the film a D, saying it "is really just a far-below-par thriller that desperately wishes it were a different movie – a longing it shares with the audience," but praises Meester for bringing "the slightest trace of something fascinating to her role. When she smiles, it's perfectly located between a sweet display of affection and a snarling warning." Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...

 of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

 gave it a half star, stating that "The Roommate – the umpteenth uncredited remake of 1992's Single White Female
Single White Female
Single White Female is a 1992 American erotic thriller based on John Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is directed by Barbet Schroeder.-Plot:...

 – sucks bad, real bad" and that "Danish director Christian E. Christiansen has no flair for suspense". Meester's performance garnered praise from other top critics, including the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

, which states: "Here her performance often has the feeling of a sports car in neutral. When she punches it for quick changes of tone from manic to wounded or around the bend, she shows how much more she is capable of." Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

 film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 called Leighton Meester's character "A combination between Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...

 and Amy Fisher
Amy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...

".

Home media

The Roommate was released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

, and digital download in North America on May 17, 2011.

Controversy

Some of the promotional posters and displays for the film used as its backdrop the Christy Administration Building from Southwestern College
Southwestern College (Kansas)
Southwestern College is a four-year private college affiliated with the United Methodist Church located in Winfield, Kansas, United States. It was founded in 1885 and graduated its first class in 1889. In addition to its campus programs, it offers online programs.-Academics:The main campus is a...

 in Winfield, Kansas
Winfield, Kansas
Winfield is a city situated along the Walnut River in the west-central part of Cowley County, located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,301...

. The college administration voiced concern that permission to use the photograph of the building was not properly obtained and is currently investigating the legality of its use.

Primary concerns hinge that the image of the college (particularly the image of the building) could be damaged, while other concerns are that the college's primary iconic image is being used for promotion of an unrelated business venture.

After initial success became realized when the film earned $15.6 million in receipts to top the box office during its debut weekend in the United States, concerns continued. By that time, the image of the building had been replaced on the film's official website and on subsequent promotional material. The photo of the building reportedly was licensed from iStockPhoto
IStockphoto
iStockphoto is an online, royalty free, international microstock photography provider operating with the micropayment business model. Images cost between 1 and 150 credits, depending on size and image collection .- History :The company was founded by Bruce Livingstone in May, 2000...

 based in Calgary, Alberta. As of February 8, 2011, no lawsuits have been filed but discussions have taken place.

Students at the school are reporting "mixed feelings" about the topic – some believe that it may be helpful for the college and others report that they can see how it may be harmful to the school's image.
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