I had two roommates my freshmen year in college. I brought the TV. One guy brought the fridge. The other a microwave. I wouldn’t say we became friends for life, but I learned a lot about how to live and share spaces with adults, and especially that first year being on nerves trying to be chill but also make clear when something bothered me. If I had Roommates like in this movie though, my joyful college years would have, um, turned out much, much, differently. So…thanks Luke and Peter, especially for teaching me what a sock on the door means.
Devon (Sadie Sandler) is about to head to college. Realizing she’s not part of her high school core 4, Devon really hopes she can make a best friend at student orientation to start her reinvention properly. After some struggles, she meets Celeste (Chloe East), everything Devon wants: a cool outgoing girl who really seems to like being around Devon. The two agree to be roommates for their freshmen year, a living situation so legendary it is being told to us by Walton College’s Dean of Student Life, Robyn Schilling (Sarah Sherman) to 2 feuding roommates (Storm Reid, and Ivy Wolk), about how NOT to deal with their problems.
Adam Sandler must be a great dad. Obviously it’s nice to have someone with inifinte money to make a movie for you. But what I mean is Sadie Sandler, two movies in, already is confident enough to play around with her screen persona, something actors don’t develop until way later. She’s the opposite of her Ronnie character here: more inward and tightly wound as Devon. She’s got that Sand Man charisma, and like her dad, hides a bunch of interesting stuff under the surface she brings out during Roommates’s big moments. She not a broad comedy star: she’s more the indie dramedy lead, perfect for Roommates. Sandler dials it down so Chloe East can cook. I fell in love with East and her warped, hysterical religious sexual character in the Fabelmans. She takes that character, and fuses it with her Heretic character, to play the perfect more comedic foil to Sadie Sander’s drama. The two are amazing together; I fully believed in their arc of being fast friends but slowly realizing that maybe, deeper, that they probably shouldn’t really be friends with each other. I knew Roommates was working cause by the end of the Dean’s story, these two ladies are pretty awful people, but they do a great job of hiding that cruelty with sweet acts that make you think this might just be a phase, and not just who the two of them are.
Half the fun of a Happy Madison movie is the cast of characters Sandler brings in for a chuckle or two. Being Sadie’s movie, this crop is much more interesting than Rob Schneider or Nick Swardson’s 8 minutes of stupid crap. Nick Kroll and Natasha Lyonne couldn’t be more perfectly cast as Sadie’s parents, brimming with snark, line crossing humor, and backhanded compliments to the delight of everyone. And props to Carol Kane for showing up as grandma Gigi, for the big setpiece of the movie you’ll see coming and still laugh at. I loved the runner of Devon/Celeste’s roommates across the hall (Kyra Tantao and Zahra Rock), specifically how one was still together with a clingy sh*tty high school boyfriend who calls everytime she goes out. Martin Herlihy has a blast as Ultimate Van Wilder; not the best Van Wilder, but Van Wilder as a frisbee king. And Sarah Sherman navigates the whole story like the seasoned comedy vet she already is, and will be just a blast to see in hopefully many movies to come. In a dearth of college movies spring boarding or jump starting careers, the Roommates cast is your hang, eating popcorn chuckling at the Devon/Celeste drama while flash frying your turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanks Chandler Levack. The director of Roommates understands the joy of coming of age movies and how important they are to growing up. So thanks for giving us a double taste this year! Your party acumen is stellar by the way: neon parties, spring break, loft parties with bands. Can you help me with my next birthday please?