Synopsis

Saïd Taghmaoui dreams of writing for the movies. But misfortune keeps getting in the way. His landlord, outraged by his latest script, throws him out, and his request for a permanent visa has been denied. If he doesn’t get married to someone with a British passport, he’s going to have to leave the country in twelve weeks. As he races about from one odd job to the other (emphasis on “odd”), he bounces from one potential roommate to another, and falls in love with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator… played by Juliette Lewis.

Though not disagreeable, Room to Rent isn’t exactly hilarious either. The humour is generally fairly obvious, and each scene plays out pretty much as you would expect it to. Not exactly earth-shaking stuff, though there is some slight interest to be had in seeing Lewis do Monroe.

Audio

The soundtrack is music-heavy, and the music has been given a strong mix. When said music stops long enough for you to notice, the sound effects have a good rear presence as well, though the left-right separation of the 2.0 surround mix isn’t spectacular. The music does not drown out the dialogue however, and overall the sound is very sharp and clear.

Video

Very nice colours and contrasts – this is a quite handsome-looking film. The image is sharp, thought the 1.85:1 widescreen transfer is not anamorphic. Solid blacks, and no discernible grain add to the attractive look of the image.

Special Features

Nothing much here: a trailer and scored main menu page.

Closing Thoughts

Not a terrible film, but not hugely interesting either. The same can be said of the disc.

Special Features List

• Theatrical Trailer