Wild Roomies (I) (2004) User Reviews

Could Have Been a Good Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 25 June 2014]

In Texas, the insecure Reno Rizolla (A.J. Buckley) has been living with his girlfriend Holly (Holly Fields) for six months. Reno is jealous but does not want to get married now with Holly that promises to give him a bj only after their marriage. Reno does not accept to have roommates since his last girlfriend betrayed him with his roomie. Reno is unsuccessfully trying to sell a boxing bag that he has invented. Out of the blue, Reno is fired from his job and evicted from his home. However his Uncle Charlie (Shelly Kurtz) unexpectedly dies in Los Angeles and Reno and Holly travel to the City of Angels.

Reno learns that have inherited a mansion and the Mercedes Benz from his uncle, but no money since Charlie had spent his fortune with a stripper. Further, the manor still have five years mortgage loan to be paid. Without any other option, they decide to rent two rooms to pay the debts. The handsome Chad (David Wheir) and the sexy Nicole (Jennifer Lyons) rent the rooms and Reno and Holly become jealous of them. Reno has not patented his boxing bag and soon he discovers that his project has been stolen. He decides to get married with Holly but he needs to travel to Texas to bring their furniture and possessions to LA. But while he is traveling, Chad and Nicole give a party that will change their lives.

"Wild Roomies" is a combination of comedy, romance and drama that has a reasonable beginning, tiresome development and an amoral conclusion that could have saved the story. The marketing and DVD cover seem to be based on "American Pie", but the plot is totally different. Reno is a good character but totally insecure, losing Holly because his insecurity. Even being infatuated by Chad, Holly's attitude is totally unexpected and inconsistent with her character since she is angry with her house trashed by Chad and Nicole's friends and ends in a threesome with them and doing the oral sex she had always refused to Reno. The problem is not relative to a moral or amoral ending, but coherence with the character. Mt vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Se Essa Casa Falasse" ("If This House Could Speak")

I only gave it 3 for the boobs

[pjsheehan · 3/10 · 14 June 2018]

This movie would be great. If everyone involved did everything completely opposite of everything they did. Seriously. Every hard copy of this movie should be crushed by the butt of a 1657 Blunderbuss. Every electronic copy of this movie should be completely banished from the interwebs. If anyone is ever caught watching, reproducing, discussing, mentioning, or referencing this movie they should be incinerated by means of pellet stove. Everyone that owns this dvd should buy another one and throw them both out. I'm just serious. Would recommend.

Miss the target...

[destroyerwod · 5/10 · 17 October 2013]

The movie is aiming at American Pie fans, by the lag lines, by the cover that has an half naked chicks on it(and surprisingly not the actor playing Reno... or the one playing Chad) that is not even in the movie.. The title WILD roomies and the back cover which feature the stripper at the beginning of the movie... All of this make you think this another of those "teen comedy" and to be honest, even tough they are very light , i love those.

But this movie is not, minus a few nude shots and 2-3 jokes, this is the kind of movie that i would see my mother watch... Its what i call a chick flick as it goes on emotions, relationship and i dunno... as a 28 years old male, it just didn't hook me up.

I was more interested in Chad and Nicole than in the 2 main protagonist and i wanted to see what THEY where doing outside there home...

I will add that if you are a french speaker, this movie is part of the VVS line when they used atrocious dubbing that sounded like Saturday night midnight cable softcore movies... Its not good... Thanks fully they changed that over the years...

I've seen roomies a lot wilder than this

[pertoref · 2/10 · 25 March 2005]

I saw this movie on video with a couple of friends as part of a teen comedy triple header, alongside Dorm Daze and Going Greek. Obviously we weren't going for quality, but for air-headed entertainment and gross-out gags. Generally we got what we came for, but Wild Roomies really stood out: For being awful.

First impression first, the cover: The Norwegian release cover showed breasts covered up and a bunch of seemingly "crazy" roomies in the background; Brings up pictures of drunken semi-naked teenagers doing bunches of funny stuff stuff doesn't it?- The "crazy" roomies on the cover were not even featured in the picture. And the funny stuff you assume they'll be doing?- Absent as well.

This movie was labeled comedy, which is a bit strange since it not even remotely funny. Relationship drama would be more accurate.

Put shortly the movie is about a young couple inheriting a swanky house in LA, and are forced to get some roomies to make ends meet. These roommates eventually put both the young couple's patience and relationship to the test because they're so "wild". Problem is, they're not. And here lies the problem of this movie: The protagonist couple are so anal-retentive and neurotic that they manage to generate zero sympathy. You'll find yourself rooting for the antagonist roomies halfway through the movie. Add mediocre acting, lame dialogue and boring direction and you got yourself a movie that is best left unseen.

See something else.

"In the spirit of..." if you mean "spirit as something dead!

[masschaos · 2/10 · 18 November 2004]

I had high hopes for this one after reading the back of the DVD, "In the spirit of American Pie and Animal House..." After suffering through this I realized I just blew $2.50 to rent it. This movie started out slow and just got slower... brief and fleeting moments of levity proved that it was in the spirit of American Pie if you mean "spirit" as a dead thing. not very entertaining or fun! Don't be fooled like i was and expect anything barely watchable because this movie will depress you more than entertain you. "Need to fill up three more lines for this stupid movie that doesn't deserve the effort... what a stupid piece of ignorant crud. This movie wreaked, even the brief nudity sucked!

Just milking the cash cow.

[chaospunk · 2/10 · 2 August 2004]

Oh boy.. This movie is so mediocre I don't really know what exactly to write about it.

I think it's easier to write what it's not:

It's not very entertaining. It's not original. And there's not one character in the whole movie I cared about.

Kind of reminds me of a certain reality TV show on MTV, but without any interesting people. It just drags on and on and I could hardly wait for it to end. The only thing that kept me from switching it off was Jennifer Lyons (c:

I thought a long time about this movie to find one good thing to say about it. What I liked was the reminder not to judge a person by the first impression you get (as Holly did when she accused Nicole) which earns it a score of 2 out of 10 instead of a 1.

Worst movie ever?

[gabriel_rossetto · 14 September 2004]

This must have been one of the worst movies I have ever seen. EVER. The characters are exaggerated to the point that they flaws become really annoying, the acting is sub par and the ending most definitely is the worst ever. I mean, they could at least make the characters stay in their roles through the end of the movie... the Girlfriend who was very reluctant to have oral sex with his future husband then gets to do a threesome with their 2 roommates when she was supposed to be enraged by their actions? WTF, where did this come from?

I don't recommend this movie to anyone except... well, except no one. I just don't recommend it.

Character Study Lacks Depth, Becomes Lost In Foliage Of Sophomoric Attempts At Humour.

[rsoonsa · 2/10 · 14 October 2006]

A tedious mixture of puerile efforts at humour with romantic relationship melodrama fails to provide this weakly made film with any flavour of reality. As action opens, Reno (A.J. Buckley) enters his apartment, there discovering his girlfriend in flagrante delicto with his roommate, who gloatingly tells Reno "Well, at least it's with someone you know", resulting in Reno's decision to never have another roommate, this decision told to viewers by means of a soon abandoned voice-over. The storyline then proceeds ten months where we find that Reno is indeed true to his word concerning avoidance of roommates, although this appears to beg the question due to his garnering of a live-in lover, Holly (Holly Fields), with whom he has generated marital plans. The plot briefly shifts to a sleazy Hollywood strip club, wherein Reno's Uncle Charley, enamoured of a "dancer" whom he finds eminently desirable, keels over dead atop the club's bar after seeing the unadorned charms displayed by the object of his affections. It is apparent that Charley had been aware of the flawed condition of his heart, because he created a video tape during which his commentary bequeaths his large (and mortgaged) residence in Hollywood to Reno, and we see the latter deciding to, contrary to his vow, interview applicants for two roommates as tenants, with he and Holly sharing the selection process in an organized manner. Following an inane sequence involving bizarre renter candidates, all of whom Reno and Holly unsurprisingly find unsuitable for living along with them in their house they, unknown to each other, each select a renter of the opposite sex, with the lovers manifestly cool toward the choice of their partner. The newcomers (Chad and Nicole) would seem to have little discernible point to their existence other than highly aural fornication with a broad range of partners, and it is not long before jealousy mars the harmonic relationship of Reno and Holly. Reno is bent upon patenting and merchandising a type of sporting travel bag and, as he has given an engagement ring to Holly, the potential success of this entrepreneurial adventure is of great financial significance if he intends to advance his marital plan. Unfortunately, the rapacious team of Chad and Nicole, whose every action is ostensibly laced with lust, is likely to disrupt any future wedding intentions of Reno. Direction is slack, plainly far from fulfilling basic needs of the players, although an erratically composed script provides scant material with which actors may work, and ad libbing falls embarrassingly flat. As a result, the performances are undistinguished, not aided by spotty editing, while the manner of camera-work changes as abruptly and often as a firefly's tail light. Filmed with a low budget and on location, only a modicum of skill is required for the designing processes, but a larger measure of value might have been placed upon the tasteless D.J. background soundtrack, generally blaring and nearly always invasive. A good deal of discussion has been stimulated by the movie's final sequences that are apparently not expected by a viewer based upon what has come before, but in reality these comprise probably the only thoughtful portions of a poorly cobbled screenplay, and bids fair to make the work almost watchable, despite the shabby quality of the production as a whole.

A plot twist only the Underpants Gnomes could love

[MBunge · 3/10 · 4 March 2011]

This is a comedy that doesn't get within a country mile of being funny…and that's not its biggest problem. One of the actresses in this film looks like her upper lip has had a stroke…and that's not its biggest problem. Wild Roomies also tries to be a sex romp while having only slightly more nudity than the average episode of The Waltons…and that's not its biggest problem. No, the biggest problem here is an ending that's so inexplicable that it appears as though these filmmakers made two completely different movies with the same cast and accidentally swapped conclusions. Imagine watching a sucky version of Romancing The Stone where the finish is from an even suckier version of The War of the Roses.

The story starts in Dallas, Texas. None of the characters are vaguely Texan and the setting has nothing at all to do with anything else in the film, but that's where it starts. The stars of this little tale are Reno (A.J. Buckley) and his live-in girlfriend Holly (Holly Fields). Even though neither of them appear to have a job, skills, prospects or money, the only difficulty in Reno and Holly's relationship is a playful standoff on the subject of fellatio.

After watching Reno obsess over a corn dog and Holly get hit on by a smarmy dickhead, Reno's uncle in LA dies in a strip club, something the audience is shown despite there not being a single reason for such a scene to be in the film. Reno inherits his uncle's rundown mansion and he and Holly move to LA. Reno immediately suggests they take in roommates to help pay the bills, even though the movie repeatedly establishes that Reno hates the very idea of roommates because he caught his previous roommate boffing his previous girlfriend.

The two they come up with are quasi-Zen sex maniac Chad (David Wheir) and Nicole (Jennifer Lyons), the world's most inappropriately dressed coffee shop waitress. As soon as all four are living in the mansion, Wild Roomies pretty much ceases to have anything that remotely resembles a plot. Some stuff happens, but you could take the middle 70 minutes of this film, rearrange it into any order and it would make about as much sense.

The we come to the freakish ending where…wait for it…Holly comes home one night when Reno is out of town to find a mansion being trashed in a huge party, stumbles upon Nicole and Chad having sex and, even though she's very angry about the party, Holly winds up having a threesome with them. Reno returns the next morning to not only find all three of them asleep together, but to see Polaroid pictures of the threesome scattered all over their unconscious bodies. Reno tells Holly to beat it and then the film jumps ahead several months to Holly reluctantly going out with the smarmy dickhead from the start of the story and Reno being a hugely successful author. Credits roll.

The nicest thing I can say about that conclusion is it must have been written by the Underpants Gnomes from South Park.

Step 1. Enrage your landlord by holding a ginormous, drunken fiesta that ransacks the place.

Step 2. ????

Step 3. Threesome!

I have to assume that the ending is autobiographical for one of the screenwriters and he or she snuck it into the script when the other two were passed out drunk. That doesn't explain how such a ridiculous and ridiculously ill fitting ending stayed in the script, of course. Perhaps fellatio and/or a threesome were involved in the negotiations. All I can say is The Sopranos could have ended with Tony doing a rap battle against MC Hammer and it would have made more sense than Wild Roomies.

This movie is dumb, boring and doesn't even have enough naked chicks to be worth your while. Or enough naked dudes, depending on which way your wind blows. Don't bother with this thing.

Realistic ending. No Hollywood style

[NvdVelden · 6/10 · 25 December 2004]

I have to agree with all those people that say, this movie isn't a great one. However a lot of people, I think, don't like this movie for the lack of magic. It's obvious this wasn't a big studio production, no mentionable special effects, the filming has a bit of a cheap look and most of all the ending is more down to earth than Hollywood would dare give us. But for me, the end is just the thing that makes up for a lot of the flaws in this film.

Like i said, the movie is not great, boring even at some times (I caught myself checking my watch once or twice), the characters just live their lives with all its ups and downs, they fight, make up and then jealousy makes them fight some more, but this is like real life and it's obvious they do love each other. The end of the story is equally real, something happens which calls for emotional decision making, and although the viewer may not agree (Because IT has all the facts of the story), sadly this is how things usually turn out.

5 points out of 10 for the movie, and one extra just for the ending.

Hmmm

[raulfaust · 5/10 · 1 September 2013]

You know, sometimes watching an alternative movie feels good. However, even thought I don't require special effects or big budget for such productions, I believe the plot has to be really effective to keep you interested. Not that "Roomies" has a lame story, it doesn't; but it's sometimes too vague to indeed make you care about the characters. Cast do their job, and so does directing, with occasional funny scenes. What pleasures me the most is that, in the end, writers didn't appeal to that cliché ending, in which the boy forgives everything girl has done and they end up happily ever after! In this case, main guy considers what she's done to him and decide to go on by himself, which is totally anti- Hollywood-- and I like that. In the end, it's a medium movie, that could've been much better!

College Students Should See This One!

[javamikey · 8/10 · 18 April 2004]

For anyone who has ever had or seen troubles with those pesky critters we call roommates, this movie is a must see. The movie was co-written and directed by Oliver Robins (of POLTERGEIST fame), photographed by David Klein (CLERKS, MALL RATS, CHASING AMY), and has a cast that includes such teen movie & teen TV veterans as A.J. Buckley (DISTURBING BEHAVIOR, THE IN CROWD), Holly Fields (WISHMASTER 2), Jennifer Lyons (CAN'T HARDLY WAIT), David Wheir (URBANIA), Lisa Brenner (THE PATRIOT with Heath Ledger), Dana Barron (BEVERLY HILLS 90210), and many more.

If you've ever wanted to know what happens when your roommates do when they're alone with your significant other, check this movie out.

The ending was the best part

[imdb-100-bwacher · 7/10 · 6 March 2005]

The biggest problem with this film was that it was marketed as a teen movie, fun-type film when in fact the movie had few comedic scenes and was more interesting from a human sexuality/emotional point of view. Great movie to watch with your partner but definitely not a feel-good film.

Following is why I believe that the ending is the best part.

******SPOILER FOLLOWS. DO NOT READ PAST HERE IF YOU INTEND TO WATCH THIS MOVIE ******

The reason that many people didn't like the ending was because it was so realistic and depicted the most likely ending given a similar situation in real life that it makes them too uncomfortable.

Holly was indeed upset when she walked into the party, a complete wreck needing consolation. She walked in on her roommates having sex. Not only did they not stop having sex when she walked in but they then proceeded to console her and actively tried to seduce her at the same time. Given the fact that she was human, it would have been nearly impossible for Holly to not accept their advances. She was clearly infatuated with Chad from the beginning of the movie and the fact that Nicole (the other roomie) was also pursuing her boyfriend would have made the situation even more sexually appealing.

While I wouldn't place any moral judgments on Reno (the cheated boyfriend) for breaking up with Holly after he finds out about the incident, I do think that the ending made it seem as if Reno was somehow morally superior because he was the person who was cheated on. In fact, Reno himself was seduced by the beautiful Nicole earlier in the movie and the only reason that they did not engage in oral sex was because they were inadvertently interrupted by Holly (even though she didn't catch them).

The lesson I got from the film is that love is not sufficient to maintain a monogamous relationship. Perhaps Holly really did love Reno but she lusted Chad more than she lusted or even loved Reno. She engaged in oral sex with Chad even though she refused to do so with Reno even after his many playful pleadings.

Holly and Reno clearly put themselves in a situation where they knew that their relationship would fail. Perhaps they got the ending that they both wanted.

A Sad and Philosophical Movie That Not Everyone Will Enjoy

[peking_pup · 7/10 · 15 November 2005]

There seems to be quite a few comments on how bad this movie is.

I can see how it won't appeal to a younger (people younger than 30's) audience who may feel that the "occasional" straying from your girl/guy is okay and understandable, so what's the big deal?

I agree that the movie is slow and nothing much (or meaningful) happens until the "famous" ending. After watching it for about half an hour, I turned my attention to other things (computer, etc.) and didn't get back to the movie until at the ending. I picked it up again where Reno leaves for his out-of-town trip, and watched through to the end. I must say the ending disturbed me a lot - that is it made me really really sad. Reno and Holly had a potentially very good relationship, and obviously loved each other a lot (This shows even at the end when Holly was watching Reno being interviewed on TV in a bar - oh she was so sad) This ending raises a deeply philosophical question: Can one partner trust another after such an act? Even though I don't have a partner, I wondered after watching the movie how I would react if I were in Reno's shoes! Can one give up a potentially beautiful yet perhaps unlikely to be long-lasting relationship (one who strays once likely may stray again)? This movie failed because the producer did not know what audience he/she wants to, and therefore, target. It is - as some reviewers have said - not a comedy (particularly the ending). It does however - also as some reviewers said - have some funny moments. It has no nudity to attract male audiences, at least what I'd call nudity anyway. And certainly no "actions" - but then it is not intended to be an action movie.

I only gave it a 7 because of the "deep" ending - as much as it left a big lump in my throat for a long time....

oh my god...

[geoff_mattie · 20 July 2004]

this is the worst movie i have seen in a long time.

**spoiler**

main plot: dumb straight guy has a dumb straight girlfriend, girlfriend sleeps with roommate so they break up. from here, the boyfriend swares never to have roommates again. The boyfriend was SO HEART BROKEN that he waited and ENTIRE 8 months to find a new girlfriend, they move to LA, they need to find roommates to pay the bills. they get engaged. he goes on a business trip while his girlfriend has a 3way with their 2 current roommates. they break up. he writes a book about roommates and becomes an over night success... the end.

DON'T EVEN RENT THIS MOVIE! IT'S MORE ENTERTAINING TO SPEND YOUR 2 HOURS

FLOSSING YOUR TEETH INSTEAD!

Date movie for guys?

[Biznz · 7/10 · 13 July 2004]

Not a lot of production value. The its full of "cute" humor. It never makes you laugh out loud, their best joke is a failed attempt at the traditional potty humor with a mild twist. The "bag design" dream is a nice angle. Lots of women's breasts. The characters were all very believable (but not the breasts). The situations were very believable, all too familiar for some. You might be reminded of people in your life from characters in the movie. If you like date movies, it's in the better half. Not a lot of talk about feelings, just images of repetitive familiar situations for young couples. It really all depends on how you like the ending. It's almost a date movie for guys.