APARTMENT TROUBLES (Jennifer Prediger, Jess Weixler). 78 minutes. Rating: NNN
Watch online: iTunes
Arriving at the Carlton Cinema with virtually no fanfare, Apartment Troubles is nothing less than a stealth remake of Bruce Robinson’s classic misery farce Withnail And I from writer/director/stars Jess Weixler and Jennifer Prediger.
The story has been updated from the end of the 60s to the present day and relocated from London to New York City. And somehow, against all odds, it kind of works.
Weixler (whom you may know from The Good Wife and The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby) and Prediger (of A Teacher and Life Of Crime) play Nicole and Olivia, two flailing artists who, upon being evicted from their East Village apartment, react by jetting off to Los Angeles for a weekend with Nicole’s wealthy aunt (Megan Mullally), only to see things go even further off the rails.
It’s wobbly and lacks the majestic melancholy of Robinson’s masterpiece, but Weixler and Prediger have terrific chemistry, both together and with supporting players Mullally, Will Forte and Jeffrey Tambor. Crucially, they’re not aping the performances or tics of Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, but creating new characters who could believably exist in the world as we know it. Nicole and Olivia may be weirdos, and they’re probably idiots, but they’re not caricatures. They’re real people who’ve made dumb choices and are in no way ready for the consequences.
The L.A. sequence goes on a little too long, but this is a movie made by people who’ve thought through every aspect of their characters’ eccentricities and are happy to exploit them for both comedy and drama. And, damn, does the film stick the landing.
normw@nowtoronto.com | @normwilner
