The Resident is a mundane film with one good performance by Swank, a forgettable one by Morgan and a confusing one by Christopher Lee. The film itself is filled with clichés and the DVD/Blu-ray cover with the woman in front and an “intense” guy behind has been done ad osmium. I guess the only good news about this release is the video is more than half decent while the audio shines loudly being one of the better lossless tracks I’ve encountered thus far this year.
The Resident (2011)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Horror
Image | R – 91 min. – $29.97 | March 29, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Antti J. Jokinen
Writer(s): Antti J. Jokinen & Robert Orr (written by)
Cast: Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lee Pace, Christopher Lee
Theatrical Release Date: February 18, 2011 (limited)
DISC INFO:
Features: Theatrical Trailer
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.35
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
THE MOVIE – 2.25/5
Hammer Films Productions, after a decade plus long hiatus, have come back to life with a slew of new films. Their first I found was a direct-to-video horror/thriller entitled Beyond the Rave followed by the amazing remake, Let Me In which did poorly at the box office but hopefully will get a wider audience on home video. The latest is The Resident, a part thriller, part horror film which pushes no boundaries, really offers nothing new to either genre, and has a lackluster story which has trouble coming together.
ER doctor Juliet Devereau (HILARY SWANK) is looking for an apartment in New York after separating from her cheating husband, Jack (LEE PACE). She views a few but leaves unimpressed until she finds a large apartment – even bigger than the one on “Friends” it seems – where she meets the landlord, and building owner, Max (JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN) who shocks her when he reveals the place only rents out for $3,800 a month, a practical steal. He reveals the reason for the cheap rent was due to a subway line running underneath the building and other oddities which many would find as a fault but she embraces it needing noise to get to sleep.
Also living in the complex, and really the only person other than Max, is Max’s creepy grandfather August (CHRISTOPHER LEE) who is going downhill health wise and relies on Max to take care of him which Max does despite being verbally abused; but what else would you expect from Saruman?
Anyway, Max and Juliet seem to have an attraction for one another, though Max seems hotter to trot than Juliet who seems to be in it as a rebound than a long-term relationship, especially after the two starts to, ahem, “get it on” but Juliet puts an end to it, in just the latest tease she pulls on Max. Well, Max puts on the best face possible after they agree to leave the relationship as friends but we soon learn, via a strange step back in time, that Max orchestrated his encounter with Juliet. We find out that he had taken his grandfather in to the hospital where he sees Juliet and, taking note of her name, sees an apartment wanted ad on a bulletin board and sets things in motion. Well, after spurning him, we then discover he has been creeping within secret passages in the building watching her every move and able to enter her apartment from a hidden door, watching her as she slept.
His obsession is taken to the extreme after Juliet begins to reconcile with her husband and Max begins drugging her wine – I think that’s the only thing she drinks in this film – knocking her out night after night and does whatever he wants.
The Resident isn’t a very good movie. That’s it, plain and simple. But what’s more perplexing is I have to wonder how and why an Academy Award winner like Hilary Swank got corralled into a project like this and what’s even more so, why did she not only star in this but also served as executive producer. Now, to be fair to Ms. Swank, her performance wasn’t bad and in fact one scene in particular, watching security camera footage, was pretty damn impressive but even the best actor or actress cannot overcome a poorly written script and a plot more suitable for a TV movie, or an episode of “Criminal Minds”, than a feature length, moderately budgeted Hollywood movie.
As for Swank’s co-stars, Jeffrey Dean Morgan doesn’t go too in-depth with his character; just that he’s lonely, obsessed and sole purpose is to look creepy most of the time. Oh, and he also leers a lot, yells some and becomes uber-aggressive as the movie progresses. But for me, Morgan doesn’t have the same intensity as other obsessed stalkers-turned-killers (see Mark Wahlberg in Fear, Jennifer Jason Lee in Single White Female and even the campy Robert De Niro in Cape Fear). As for Christopher Lee, he has a limited part but that voice is awesome so how can I find fault in his role? Well, like I said, there’s not much to it and in fact is just strange and not in the interesting strange kind of way.
Antti J. Jokinen co-wrote, along with Robert Orr (Underworld: Rise of the Lycans), and directed The Resident and seems to try to bring some atmosphere to the picture with a lot of dark undertones with high production design. This is Jokinen’s first fictional movie after directing some concerts and documentaries and it shows that he has some learning to do in putting together a coherent story. Of course, Jokinen isn’t helped by a screenplay filled with horror-thriller clichés and a finale that is less intense and more stupid funny than. That being said, Jokinen also had his hand in the writing process as well…
The Resident isn’t a terrible or even unwatchable movie. Some of the plot is inane and the creepy moments don’t quite have the impact I’m sure the filmmakers wanted. In regards to Hilary Swank, on the one hand she gives a brave performance, though not nearly her best, but at the same time, she served as one of the executive producers so she’s not free from blame either. In the end, this is one of those movies that you’ll see at Best Buy and just pass on by at just one look at the cover, yet another thriller cliché.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0.5/5
The only feature on the disc is the theatrical trailer (1:56; HD) and previews for The Reef (aka “Open Water 3”) and Chain Letter.
VIDEO – 3.75/5
The Resident moves into the Blu-ray building with a lovely, if not a tad oversaturated, 1080p high-definition and 2.35 aspect ratio presentation. The detail level looks good while the color scheme is primarily dark, especially inside the apartment at key suspenseful moments. It’s not the prettiest looking picture but still not bad showcasing a high production value.
AUDIO – 4.5/5
While the video isn’t that impressive, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track certainly does its job from the first frame when John Ottman’s intense score booms from the speakers and the subwoofer shakes the floor. Also, the dialogue levels are clear and even all the way through and the sound effects like bodies crashing through walls and the like, certainly has provides the desired impact.
OVERALL – 2.25/5
Overall, The Resident is a mundane film with one good performance by Swank, a forgettable one by Morgan and a confusing one by Christopher Lee. The film itself is filled with clichés and the DVD/Blu-ray cover with the woman in front and an “intense” guy behind has been done ad osmium. I guess the only good news about this release is the video is more than half decent while the audio shines loudly being one of the better lossless tracks I’ve encountered thus far this year.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 04/11/2011
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2.