I’ve not watched The Apartment for 20 years, but it’s just been reissued, so what better excuse. We’re in 50s New York with C.C. Baxter… or Bud (Jack Lemmon). He’s in insurance. A meticulous type. Working hard, but still not where he wants to be. To try and get ahead, he lets the use of his apartment… by the hour… to colleagues. The soft horns in the score are the only nod to the extra curricular activities. In fact it’s all tasteful as the era dictates, but it’s getting to be an inconvenience for Bud. People taking liberties, waking him up all hours and his neighbours are noticing, thinking Bud alone is making all the noise, “Mildred, he’s at it again!” Bud though is a nice guy, too nice, taking the blame. Not like the rest of the male cast who’re all on the pull, but he’s juggling more than he can handle and when he finally gets to meet the boss, Mr Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), he’s rumbled. Things are only going to get more complicated though, Sheldrake wants to use the apartment too and to make it even worse, he wants to take Fran (Shirley MacLaine), the office elevator girl, the only other nice person in the building and who Bud has taken a shine to. Sheldrake and Fran have history unbeknownst to Bud and Fran doesn’t realise the apartment belongs him, the nice guy from the office, the only one who takes his hat off in the elevator and doesn’t smack her bum. It’s a bizarre love triangle, fuelled by heartbreak and questionable job security. To state that it’s wonderful though is an understatement. The cast are flawless and no more so than Lemmon. As Bud he’s funny, optimistic and utterly selfless. He’s exactly what Fran needs and vice versa. It’s a rip-roaring riveting love story that twists delightfully and often devastatingly. All these years on it still has you on the edge of your seat. One of the best films ever made, with some of the best lines that make you laugh and make you cry. Cinematic perfection. I won’t leave it another 20 years.
10/10
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