The Apartment (1960)

The Apartment

• This film hit much deeper than I thought it would. I really didn’t know much about it going into it, besides that it was a Billy Wilder creation and it was a duo of Lemmon and MacLaine. So everything was new, and it both hurt and felt good. The first half really pulls you in and hits you in the gut several times, and then the second half turns into one of the best rom-coms you’ll ever see. The blend of multiple genres and emotions is one of the greatest things I’ve seen. I’m just saying, Billy Wilder is truly a genius and he should continue to be immortalized in cinema history. The amount of passion and wit he puts into his scripts is amazing. The story in this one is so smart, and not in the ways you’d expect. Workplace movies are great, and this one takes that and smashes it into home life with some twists. That’s all I can say, because you need to see this step by step. Let the characters tell the story, not me. The performances are impeccable, most especially from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Jack Lemmon shows why he’s one of the greatest actors to ever live. The way he can subtlety switch from comedy to tragedy, and continue to go back and forth, is pure talent. Shirley MacLaine does great at being relatable and delivering her lines so poetically. That goes for everyone. Overall, this film is so strategically written, acted, and directed, and it’s one of the best screenplays I’ve seen. It’s among my new favorites for the December season, and I very much look forward to watching it again. I’d recommend it to all dramedy fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!