Movie Journals |
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The Apartment
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The Apartment Even though The Apartment (125 minutes running time), starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, is 43 years old, it still has the ability to draw a viewer in. The first fifteen minutes, however, do drag a little. The credits are boring, with just a static charcoal-like depiction of apartment buildings in the background and names rolling in the foreground. The set-up of the film is a little depressing, but it is necessary to highlight the main character’s (C.C. Baxter, played by Lemmon) circumstances. He’s a lonely guy in a lonely world; he’s used and abused by his higher-ups at work, and everyone seems to be “getting lucky” but him. Within the first fifteen minutes, we get to know C.C.Baxter as a nice guy with a sense of humor who’s is stuck in a perpetual cycle of loneliness and lack of purpose. Although the film’s setup of the main character seems a little slow, the film’s passing time seems a little fast. For example, Baxter puts a frozen dinner in the oven, and less than two minutes of film time later, he pulls it out and makes gestures like the dinner is hot. I know that microwaves weren’t available in 1960, so I can only assume that the film doesn’t do a good job of “acting as if” an hour had passed. A small detail, for sure, but one that stands out as a boo boo to my jaded 2003 eyes. At first I couldn’t decide if The Apartment is a 5 act screenplay or a 3 act screenplay. The first plot point takes place about 27 minutes into the film when the big, big boss (Mr. Sheldrake, played by Fred MacMurray) finds out about how other executives are using Baxter’s apartment for their adulterous trysts. At this point, the Mr. Sheldrake makes it clear that Baxter’s apartment will now become available to him as well, and he offers Baxter tickets to the “Music Man” so that he can use the apartment that night. Baxter, sick with a cold, but promised an executive position by Mr. Sheldrake, is on high; so much so that he asks the nice elevator girl (Fran Kubelik, played by Shirley MacLaine) to accompany him to the theater that night. This sets up the scenario to change in a new direction where we find out that Fran is dating Mr. Sheldrake, and the crux of the film begins. Plot point 2, I have decided takes place about 112 minutes into the film. It is at this point that Fran makes her first gesture that she might actually like Baxter. Baxter takes a misdirected punch from her brother-in-law rather than open her to family ridicule by announcing the truth about her seeing a married man, and she gently goes to him and calls him a fool. This seems to be the point at which the movie makes a new turn; however, earlier in the movie (at about 66 minutes in) is where Baxter discovers that Fran has tried to commit suicide and rushes to her aid. Initially I thought this could have been the transition stage to a new act; however, I decided that because it doesn’t truly change his situation with Fran (she’s still in love with Mr. Sheldrake and completely unaware of how Baxter feels about her), that perhaps the second plot point comes later. Additionally, even though it’s only followed by about five more minutes of film, I might be able to argue that the second plot point comes even later in the film (about 2 hours in) when Baxter quits his job rather than allow Mr. Sheldrake to bring Fran to his apartment. This begins the actual resolution of the film where Fran and Baxter finally “hook up.” My favorite line from this film is when Fran finds out that Mr. Sheldrake has had affairs with many women from the office, and that he will never actually leave his wife no matter what he tells her: “I should have known. When you’re in love with a married man, you shouldn’t wear mascara.” Karen Walker 13 September 2003 |