Small Apartments (2012)

Undescribable Perfection

As Good As It Gets

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I love this movie. Yes, the first 15 minutes catch you wondering if it is headed anywhere interesting. It is at least quite quirky and keeps you involved.However, as the film progresses, you learn about the various characters and realize it has much deeper meaning and dialog. The movie just gets better and better until an ending which anybody has to love. This is a movie that sticks and will have you thinking about it long afterwards.The lowly rating on this has me thinking that people just didn't see anything in the first 5 minutes to keep them going. I guess they bail before anything happens.

This movie has strange characters played by interesting choice of actors. It keeps you enthralled because you want to see how their persona's are involved in the main story. The main story follows a man named Franklin Franklin. (Not a typo) he has to deal with the body of his dead landlord sitting in his apartment. Franklin's character comes across to me as a simpleton. Every time Franklins neighbors ask if the has seen the landlord he just blatantly says that he's dead on the floor, but nobody delves further into the claim. They simply take it as sarcasm. Franklin gets a letter from his brother everyday and then the day came where a letter didn't. Franklin thinks about his time with his brother. It shows flashbacks of him and his brother infatuated with a self help author with claims of mental help. All in all, you should watch this movie. (I don't want to spoil it for anyone even though I put spoilers in the message) It was entertaining and has surprisingly tear jerking moments with great messages on life.

'Small apartments' is all about its presentation. What we see is a pretty uninteresting story, told to us in a slightly dark, moody, nevertheless humorous, and - in any case - highly original way.This presentation surely makes 'Small apartments' an unusual film. A good watch, however, for the dullness of the plot is more than compensated by its flawless high-quality acting.In spite of all this, what remains after wards is a slight feeling of dissatisfaction. With a better plot 'Small apartments' would easily have been at the top.Unfortunately this is not achieved, so we have to be content with an excellently acted, slightly surrealistic and doubtless original package.

I read the novel this film was based upon, back when it was a gift from the author, a family friend. I found myself mentally casting actors to play the amazingly quirky but identifiable characters. A great amount of time passed before "Small Apartments" found its way into the hands of a director who "got it".I have to say that it is difficult, for me, not to compare this work to that of Tarantino, if only for the raw emotional concept, quirky behaviors and "street view" filming process. However, the combination of Millis (who wrote both the novel and the screenplay) and Akerlund (the director) bring the dark side of everyday humanity into perfect view without glorifying the gore and violence so many filmmakers succumb to. The violence is acceptable, even necessary, as are the few sexual scenes that lend credence to the story and personalities that make up this labor of love. Tarantino's got absolutely nothing on these guys!The cast is, well... correct! I can't imagine anyone other than the "heavyweights" who breathe life into characters like Franklin Franklin (Matt Lucas), Burt Walnut (Billy Crystal) and Tommy Balls (Johnny Knoxville) but it doesn't stop there. You've got the talent of James Caan, Amanda Plummer, Juno Temple, Dolph Lundgren and veritable unknown, Scott Sheldon, who makes his few moments as Officer Smith a lasting impression. The casting list is mighty and recognizable, but these folks were drawn to the characters created by Millis and the vision of Akerlund, rather than a paycheck. There is a story, one that compels us to realize how little we understand one another in this all too short existence on the planet and lays bare our preconceptions and misconceptions of who we see and how we react and assign personal judgement. You don't need to be a "deep thinker" to get this film and that's the beauty of it.The old saying that "money can't buy happiness" is true and untrue... both are addressed in Small Apartments, however, it brings home the very real point that true happiness lives in our mind, however small or large!I was both eager and apprehensive about finally watching this film, especially knowing the author, screenplay writer and executive producer (Chris Millis) on a personal level... I'm so glad I gave in to eager! Bravo! This is a must see!