(1960, Dir. Billy Wilder)
In Short: C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is an insurance worker who lets his bosses use his apartment to keep up their extramarital affairs. It's easy and uncomplicated for Baxter to sustain this practice--until he begins to fall for the elevator girl, Fran (Shirley MacLaine). (Mega Spoilers!) For a comedy, this film has a surprising amount of depth. Most of the women are depicted as shallow sex objects, but Fran and arguably, Mrs. Dreyfuss, are afforded some actual character. Fran especially goes through a great character arc, going from cast-aside mistress to a woman in control of her own destiny. This arc peaks with Fran's suicide attempt, which gives the whole movie a more serious tone--even though Mr. Sheldrake doesn't take it seriously. The emotional depth and investment is really increased as the story moves along, and the film is very affecting for seeming to be merely a comedy at the outset. This was great! The exposition dragged on for quite a bit, but with the introduction of Fran and Mr. Sheldrake's relationship, things picked up quickly and never stopped cooking until the very end. The characters were easy to love (or hate) without being overly simple, the writing was snappy and fun, and the plot and jokes were also moved along visually--which is always super cool. 9.5/10 spaghetti rackets.
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AuthorEileen here, writing reviews for film class. Archives
April 2018
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