I was rather excited at what seemed to be a hopeful start to this movie. Relative unknowns in the lead, but talented, fresh and with apparent acting talent, (albeit obviously earlier in their careers). But we just don't need another stupid" but eager to learn youngster story. Not 1/3 the way into the movie one begins to get a foreboding that these two "roomies" don't have the maturity to be trusted with a pet cat without ominous results. Cats. Probably the toughest of the domesticated pets anyone could be charged with the care of. Well. The foreboding was accurate. In spite of the "passionate grieving" exhibited by one of the girls, the other (or both to be more accurate, by sheer neglect) manage to kill a "pet" cat through sheer stupidity. In an age where our society needs only an on screen example/excuse to act injuriously toward a more helpless creature, this movie provides that example with pride. This movie appears to be a "growth" through maturation process story. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter that the growth is exemplified by "innocent mistakes" such as smothering a helpless creature in gold paint. I couldn't rate the movie lower than the 5 I gave it....after all, they didn't kill a child. Hollywood is saving that "coming of age" for another storyline, I guess.
11 Reviews
Women can be slackers too
el-chicano5 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
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"!
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"!
Horrible waste
jkrempelinsac4 January 2016
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...
Well, not trying to be insensitive but watching this one was a huge mistake :P
Aktham_Tashtush5 April 2015
well the idea of the movie is not clear.
The plot is vague and shattered all over the place .... just some scenes rolling over two girls living like semi-Homeless by choice !!,, or is it about life !! all starts with troubles of their apartment !!
It's suppose to be a Comedy/Drama but i kinda didn't get or see that !! The movie gives few bits of comedy when Will Forte and Megan Mullally appeared.
The stroyline and the events are so still ,, no ups or downs .. it's not that tempting to keep on watching you just wait for the moment that attract you but it never comes.
thou in the second part of the movie got awkwardly somehow funny but god it was still weird :P
The casting ,, well i couldn't really judge the cast .. i mean of the two leads "Nicole"and"Olivia" are suppose to act this way of laziness, careless, cleansing and all about the soul then they did a good job but still it didn't help the movie in any way.
Overall,, the writers should'v done so much more work to make it a real comedy-Drama movie ,, now it's just A movie .. no genre is included.
The plot is vague and shattered all over the place .... just some scenes rolling over two girls living like semi-Homeless by choice !!,, or is it about life !! all starts with troubles of their apartment !!
It's suppose to be a Comedy/Drama but i kinda didn't get or see that !! The movie gives few bits of comedy when Will Forte and Megan Mullally appeared.
The stroyline and the events are so still ,, no ups or downs .. it's not that tempting to keep on watching you just wait for the moment that attract you but it never comes.
thou in the second part of the movie got awkwardly somehow funny but god it was still weird :P
The casting ,, well i couldn't really judge the cast .. i mean of the two leads "Nicole"and"Olivia" are suppose to act this way of laziness, careless, cleansing and all about the soul then they did a good job but still it didn't help the movie in any way.
Overall,, the writers should'v done so much more work to make it a real comedy-Drama movie ,, now it's just A movie .. no genre is included.
Yuck!
claudiapaola14 February 2022
What a waste of time watching this nonsense. Two very annoying, spoiled, addicted to medication, crazy, lesbians that are semi homeless, one is wealthy but too proud to be with her wealthy family so decides to live like trash. Both have no artistic talent but they think they do, the ending is as annoying as the beginning. Boring & dumb!
oddball caper, with familiar faces
ksf-221 May 2021
Bob (Jeffrey Tambor) is renting to Olivia and Nicole ( Jennifer Prediger, Jess Weixler ) in the village, but they aren't paying the rent, so out they go! So they head for california. Of course. The girls are self centered. And immature. And probably mentally challenged. They jump on dad's private jet (!) and away they go. Guest stars Megan Mullally and Lance Bass! Of course, Mullally steals the show once they get to her house. All kinds of wacky things happen. And they end up back home. Such a strange, happy, sad ending. A long, journey. This one is also known as Trouble Dolls on Roku; there's an old legend that when you go to bed, you should tell your troubles to your doll, and they will be resolved by morning. Written and directed by... Jennifer Prediger and Jess Weixler. Not sure what to make of this one. It's many things, rolled up in one.
Very good movie
snideelf12 June 2022
Take a nice break from the Hollywood film factory movies and watch this very funny movie.
Two very good looking young women struggling to get by in big city New York.
Funny and believable situations with all the people in this funny movie, esp the people in la la land.
Two very good looking young women struggling to get by in big city New York.
Funny and believable situations with all the people in this funny movie, esp the people in la la land.
This Movie Had Me In Stitches
finserra23 June 2022
I've had siblings and friends in the arts in Manhattan. At a safe distance, their otherworldliness and detachment from convention and straight-line aspiration I've found somewhere between charming and exasperating, but always funny. These are low-rent auteurs on a tear. I've known a thousand of them, and this film gets them. If you can't see the humor in them, you just don't have the gene. The LA sequences were a perfect microcosm of Manhattan arts meets LA television studio.
A fun comment on the entitled rich
cekadah2 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
the woes of pretty young artists
islakay14 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
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.
'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.
Delightful, thought-provoking take on modern Millennials/Gen X Y Z, and the world they inhabit.
winopaul19 July 2023
I loved this movie. It so captures the empty soul-searching life of modern pampered Americans. I was impressed by the writers capturing the whole New York artiste vibe, and then I learn the two gals are the writers, as well as directors. This made the movie go from funny to hilarious. Such perfection in self-parody we have not seen since Tropic Thunder. It's an exercise in self-absorption that is making fun of self-absorption. Crystalline fractal perfection.
They had the whole East Coast/West Coast thing going on too. I was reminded of that Woody Allen line about how, "People in LA just eat dinner and watch movies." Wouldn't that be the perfect way to format the LA Times newspaper? Two big columns, one for movies, one for restaurants. In more unintentional self-parody, in real life, the brainier-acting gal did end up moving from New York to LA. In real life, the blond writer/director/actor (a super slashie!) just hung around until she spawned and had a kid a few years ago. Welcome to reality, blondie.
The film is an anthropological delight. As a tech worker, my tribe has given you Earthlings a life better than any 19th century king or queen. So I am fascinated by the huge bulk of people too lazy or scared or narcissistic to get a useful job. You know, something like brick-layer, scientist, historian, lawyer, doctor, AC repairman, or grocery bagger. Oh, you enjoy the fruits of my tribe's labor, while making fun of us, as it's been from Junior High to sitcoms like Big Bang Theory. And now you sit around basking in leisure, only to end up not only being useless, but enshrining uselessness.
And the feelings, oh the feelings! It is wonderful to see people who operate purely on feelings, with nary a rational thought clouding their judgement. Getting evicted? No problem, take a private jet vacation, while pouting that mommy and daddy don't love you. And what aspirations. Not making the world the tiniest bit better for humanity or farm animals or plankton. No, one plays pretend in an insurance commercial, while the other one fills prophylactics with sand, and declares, It's Art!
Speaking of art, more multi-level joy with the LA performance piece, which was, you have admit, pretty dang good. It lacked the stark simplicity and ennui of the performance of The Dude's landlord in The Big Lebowski, but it was still excellent. I am not being sarcastic. Let's see you come up with something so smart and fun, and then do it in front of other human beings. The trash-bag art and fashion also evoked images of the tremendous Derilicte campaign in Zoolander. It used things well-done to make fun of things poorly done, only most people can't tell the difference. Check out Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael to see more slagging of LA culture and movie star aspirations. As a bonus, the blond in this movie looks like a cross between Paris Hilton and Winona Ryder.
Which might provide a good juncture to note just how good the acting in this movie is. That these two gals are not A-list superstars highlights the exigencies and vicissitudes of the acting profession. That and not being a nepo baby. It's too bad, but they are still young, so maybe future glory awaits.
And now I have to read Chekhov since he was name-dropped in the movie. And yeah, even I knew they were not talking about the Chekhov in Star Trek. Chekhov's play, The Seagull, is free on Project Gutenberg. The gals intentionally mangled the Chekov quote, so here is is, since you are too lazy to check it out yourself:
"All men and beasts, lions, eagles, and quails, horned stags, geese, spiders, silent fish that inhabit the waves, starfish from the sea, and creatures invisible to the eye-in one word, life-all, all life, completing the dreary round imposed upon it, has died out at last." Anton Checkov
Which gets you thinking, Hey, maybe the whole purpose of technology is to support the arts?
They had the whole East Coast/West Coast thing going on too. I was reminded of that Woody Allen line about how, "People in LA just eat dinner and watch movies." Wouldn't that be the perfect way to format the LA Times newspaper? Two big columns, one for movies, one for restaurants. In more unintentional self-parody, in real life, the brainier-acting gal did end up moving from New York to LA. In real life, the blond writer/director/actor (a super slashie!) just hung around until she spawned and had a kid a few years ago. Welcome to reality, blondie.
The film is an anthropological delight. As a tech worker, my tribe has given you Earthlings a life better than any 19th century king or queen. So I am fascinated by the huge bulk of people too lazy or scared or narcissistic to get a useful job. You know, something like brick-layer, scientist, historian, lawyer, doctor, AC repairman, or grocery bagger. Oh, you enjoy the fruits of my tribe's labor, while making fun of us, as it's been from Junior High to sitcoms like Big Bang Theory. And now you sit around basking in leisure, only to end up not only being useless, but enshrining uselessness.
And the feelings, oh the feelings! It is wonderful to see people who operate purely on feelings, with nary a rational thought clouding their judgement. Getting evicted? No problem, take a private jet vacation, while pouting that mommy and daddy don't love you. And what aspirations. Not making the world the tiniest bit better for humanity or farm animals or plankton. No, one plays pretend in an insurance commercial, while the other one fills prophylactics with sand, and declares, It's Art!
Speaking of art, more multi-level joy with the LA performance piece, which was, you have admit, pretty dang good. It lacked the stark simplicity and ennui of the performance of The Dude's landlord in The Big Lebowski, but it was still excellent. I am not being sarcastic. Let's see you come up with something so smart and fun, and then do it in front of other human beings. The trash-bag art and fashion also evoked images of the tremendous Derilicte campaign in Zoolander. It used things well-done to make fun of things poorly done, only most people can't tell the difference. Check out Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael to see more slagging of LA culture and movie star aspirations. As a bonus, the blond in this movie looks like a cross between Paris Hilton and Winona Ryder.
Which might provide a good juncture to note just how good the acting in this movie is. That these two gals are not A-list superstars highlights the exigencies and vicissitudes of the acting profession. That and not being a nepo baby. It's too bad, but they are still young, so maybe future glory awaits.
And now I have to read Chekhov since he was name-dropped in the movie. And yeah, even I knew they were not talking about the Chekhov in Star Trek. Chekhov's play, The Seagull, is free on Project Gutenberg. The gals intentionally mangled the Chekov quote, so here is is, since you are too lazy to check it out yourself:
"All men and beasts, lions, eagles, and quails, horned stags, geese, spiders, silent fish that inhabit the waves, starfish from the sea, and creatures invisible to the eye-in one word, life-all, all life, completing the dreary round imposed upon it, has died out at last." Anton Checkov
Which gets you thinking, Hey, maybe the whole purpose of technology is to support the arts?
See also
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