Ben Alcala Most people have heard of "willing suspension of disbelief". To the viewer it is a very important part of the movie-going process because you have to be predisposed towards wanting to see a movie or you wouldn't watch it.This movie's description sounded mildly interesting but when I watched it I found it hard to suspend disbelief, mainly due to a weak plot full of unanswered questions."Apartment Troubles" stuck me as a glorified student film, which is not inherently a bad thing. This film was written and directed by the two lead actresses and overall they did a creditable job on the film.However, the weaknesses in the plot are enough to tell you that the two are definitely not experienced screenwriters.I was able to follow most of the thin plot of this deliberately paced movie but I still have some questions I wish Jennifer Prediger and Jess Weixler could answer for me since the film itself didn't.The two actresses did a decent job of acting but due to the script the exact nature of their characters' relationship was unclear. I guess they might be lovers whose relationship is ending but I was never really sure. The IMDb description calls them "codependent roommates", if they are indeed lovers then their banter is very passive-aggressive because theirs is apparently a one-sided love, one that Nicole cannot return to Olivia.It is hard to get a handle on Olivia, in most films as a brunette she would be the sober one of the pair, but in this case she is portrayed as barely functioning at times. She is supposed to be less stable than Nicole but then at times she acts more sane than Nicole.Olivia's cat turns up dead, but the movie glosses over the exact cause of Seagull's death (played by Bobafett, great name for a cat). Gold paint around Seagull's neck makes us think that Nicole killed Seagull but that part is also fuzzy.Blonde Nicole is model pretty and is supposed to be a starving artist but all I saw was a spoiled rich girl slacker in a trashy apartment. To me she came across as cold and unfeeling so it was hard for me to empathize with her "Apartment Troubles".Nicole's family is freezing her out but again it is unclear why. Could it be that is she is always asking for money? Or because of her ambiguous, almost lesbian relationship with Olivia? So the pair can't pay rent on their illegal sublet in New York (which contrary to the other poster you CAN get evicted for) but then Nicole has access to a private jet to fly the pair to California? Uh, OK. You may want to pause for a bong hit to suspend disbelief again.Then they visit Nicole's rich Aunt Kimberley, who also happens to co-host a hit TV show, and badda bing, badda boom! they are allowed to perform in front of a national TV audience. Their big break, huh? OK now is a good time to pause and take another bong hit. Trust me on that.But no, Nicole makes Olivia perform a piece that would be insulting to performance art if you called it performance art. Wouldn't it be better to just tell Olivia it's over instead of embarrassing her on national TV? If they are actually lovers that is? This scene could have been played for big laughs (a gong like the Gong Show would have awesome) but instead they played it straight so it makes Nicole come across as a little bit of sadist for putting poor Olivia through all that.Especially after she killed Olivia's cat. If she did kill poor Seagull that is. Don't blame the bong hits, that one is squarely on the sketchy script.I am not sure how the film is supposed to be funny, to me it was just pathetically sad with only a chuckle or two thrown in every now and then.The film is mainly about the two lead characters and the other characters (including some relatively famous actors) are cardboard cutouts of people only there for the two leads to exchange dialogue with.In my opinion the film really needed a little more clarity on Olivia's and Nicole's relationship, if indeed they were lovers on the outs they could have mined that vein for some drama as well as some comedy.If the writers had a gotten a writer with some experience in comedy to rewrite the final draft then it could have been an above-average movie with some laughs, maybe even a modest commercial success at the box office.In summary this movie had a lot of potential that never got realized because it is pretty hard to write a script and then also act in and direct the film too.The good news is that both Jennifer Prediger and Jess Weixler show a lot of promise so we should be hearing from them in the future.I am pretty easy going when it comes to rating movies, it has to be really bad to rate poorly with me.I'm looking at you remake of Total Recall, had I not seen the original I would have never figured out what the hell was happening!Ladies will like this film more plus they will also like the fact that it was created by two talented young women. So two glasses of wine and no bong hits = 6.Guys, if your significant other makes you watch this film it is not a total waste of time. Half a six-pack and two bong hits = 4.So the average of the two is 5, mainly because there are a lot worse films out there than "Apartment Troubles"!

jkrempelinsac Watching perhaps one of the worst movies ever made, "Apartment Troubles" on Showtime. It's suppose to be a comedy, but the two female stars are obnoxious and horrible actors. What is funny about killing a cat with gold paint, burning a cat on a grill, being evicted, spilling a pan on a stove, breaking into a house, taking Aderol, tearing up fake flowers, dressing in garbage bags, making fun of artists, starving but refusing to eat, hovering in a corner when someone is outside of a door, stuffing your face with angle food cake & red wine...I will never get this time back. What's so funny about two losers who think they're actors? So sad that Jeffery Tambor and Will Forte had graced their presence on this thing, even though it was for brief cameos. Sorry Ms Mulally, why? Avoid at ALL COSTS, trust me...

Isla Kay This artsy film was refreshing due to its seeming lack of premeditation. I wasn't sure what was going to happen next, and this is the mark of good scripting for me. A little sappy at times (too much with the cat mourning) and the feely ending... although the hairless cat represented hope adequately - once in a blue moon, an anomaly can come along. 'Karen' was appropriately creepy as the rapey lesbian - I've missed her. Would have liked to see more from Lance Bass. One line? Jeffrey Tambor was casually funny. "How could you kick us out illegally?" "This is an illegal apartment." (For the record, you can't do that, ask Judge Marilyn Milian). Unlike some other reviews, I felt that these girls represented many young female artists. The artist archetype is simply not skilled at money making, and many young creative women are thrust into this highly expensive, aggressive world and it eats them alive, with others shunning them for their inability to conform (Nicole's family doesn't even invite her on vacation when she is harmless and kindhearted). These girls are raised with people praising them for being sweet and gentle (the dinner guests cooing over Nicole's childhood photo), then once these pretty girls are released into society, they're expected to earn like privileged alpha males - this theme is well highlighted by the Trouble(d) Dolls being preyed upon by every character they encounter. The attention to detail of the colourful shots of Nicole's art-making inside the apartment was not lost on me. Cool art on its own, made meta by the creative filming angles and sequencing. Trouble Dolls is such the better title - why the generic Apartment Troubles? - bla.

zif ofoz Writer/Directors: Jennifer Prediger, Jess Weixler have created a charming, and maybe a bit esoteric, story about two spoiled girls who come from well heeled families trying to live an organic life in their privileged world.Nicole & Olivia are trying to live organically in a NYC apartment without electricity, make a compost in their kitchen, create art, act, and are too proud to ask for family help when the rent comes due. To escape their failing lives they hop over to LA in a private jet.What these two have truly failed to realize is their time together has reached it's natural end (as symbolized by the death of the cat) but to avoid this reality they fly off to visit a wealthy aunt in LA where the truth surfaces and they make fools of themselves.Nicole is domineering and bossy to Olivia. Olivia is sensitive and too trusting in others. Olivia learns through the Aunt that her friendship with Nicole is basically over (this is symbolized by Olivia telling someone she buried her cat at sea and Nicole realizing the truth by the expression on her face). While they were in LA they visit a Taro Card reader and the reader tells them they must loose everything and start again. Upon their return to NYC they discover they have lost their apartment, Nicole has lost all her art and Olivia gets a job and must leave. As Nicole sits among her art thrown out as trash a hairless cat appears! Here we are shown that the losses have happened as stated by the card reader but all isn't lost. They have only lost emotionally - even the landlord says "when one window closes another opens".This movie is listed as comedy/drama and it is a wonderful message story told in a lighthearted way.