The Roommate

This thrill-free thriller—a sort of bargain-basement Single White Female—stars Minka Kelly as Sara Matthews, a Des Moines girl who enrolls in the University of Los Angeles to study fashion design (you can tell she's got style because she wears a man's hat and scarves). Sara's dorm roommate Rebecca (Leighton Meester) is a high-strung type who quickly turns possessive: before long, Rebecca has attacked Sara's party-girl pal in the shower and sent her packing; gotten the sleazy professor who's come on to Sara fired for sexual misconduct; and even killed the little kitty Sara has adopted! Dim-bulb Sara doesn't suspect that Rebecca is crackers (even though the roommate's parents ask if their daughter is taking her meds), maybe because Sara is swooning over a frat-boy drummer—which, of course, only feeds Rebecca's anger, as does Sara's visiting high-school boyfriend, and Sara's world-traveling lesbian designer buddy who commits the unpardonable sin of inviting Sara to move in with her. Director Christian E. Christiansen resolutely eschews suspense, plodding along instead with one after another dark and murky set-piece staged without imagination or style. The best performance here belongs to the doomed kitten, who's smart to get out of the movie early. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Christian E. Christiansen, deleted and alternate scenes (6 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the “making-of” featurette “Obsession” (9 min.), a “Next Generation of Stars” cast featurette (6 min.), a “Dressing Dangerously” segment on costume design (4 min.), and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a decent extras package—especially on Blu-ray—for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)