The Apartment

Release Year: 1960

Director: Billy Wilder

Review: Billy Wilder is not afraid to make provocative films.  Like Apatow today, Wilder was working on a different plane than everyone else while working in a genre.  'The Apartment' is about an average white collar worker(Jack Lemmon) who loans his Upper West Side apartment to upper management for their extramarital activities until he falls for one of the victims of the adulterers.  Being produced in the production code era, Wilder was none the less able to make this edgy comedy. 

It is so lighthearted, that you forget your watching a film about sex, adultery and suicide.  It deals with these issues with the wit of a comedic genius and delivered by one of the best comedic actors of all time in Jack Lemmon.  Despite being primarily shot in two locations, it never felt cramped and it only magnified the acting abilities of Lemmon and the his love interest played by Shirley MacLaine whose chemistry was phenomenal.  They manage to pull off the the complex relationship by both being sincere and comical.  Lemmon is hard not to like in this role.  In almost every scene he managed to bring a smile to my face.  This is a masterful film dealing with the pain of a broken heart in an original and insightful way, while always staying true to its comedy genre.
Rating: 5/5