All things Super Bowl put a damper on Hollywood’s enthusiasm for releasing intriguing news films this weekend. So what we were stuck with ? A Single White Female ripoff called ‘The Roommate’ was so derivative its releasing studio couldn’t even bring itself to schedule an advance critics screening. Turns out it was a smart move since without poisonous reviews leaking before its Friday opening it turned out to be the number one movie in the country. The film managed only an 8% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes , about as low as number one openings can muster. Out of 33 reviews counted so far only 3 could even be kindly labeled as “mixed”. Too bad for Leighton Meester too. She was so good in Country Strong, her other current film which has a song nominated for an Oscar. The Roommate doesn’t have to worry about getting Oscar nominations next year but might be a good candidate for a Razzie. Meester plays a deranged girl who is, OF COURSE, obsessed with her new roommate. Oy. The audience who turned out was predictably girls, mostly under 21 and way to young to remember flicks like the aforementioned Single White Female but Single White Roommate would be a more honest title. Still never underestimate the lowbrow tastes of the American moviegoing public but I have to say the Packers/Steelers pre-game warmup had more thrills than this entire movie.
