Room for Rent, written and directed by Matthew Atkinson - 8.4 out of 10

Room for Rent, written and directed by Matthew Atkinson
8.4 out of 10


Positive Psychology research has looked at the impact that winning the lottery has on the happiness of people, with a view at the impact that money has on our wellbeing, with interesting results.
For a few months, those who have won more than one million dollars have shown an increase in their reported happiness level, but then they returned to a base level, thus demonstrating that, although a level of comfort is needed in order to be happy, big sums of money do not bring bliss with them, due in part to Hedonic Adaptation.

Room for Rent apparently confirms these studies, for we have from the start a disabused, depressed, former winner of $ 3,500,000 that is the main character, Mitch Baldwin aka the remarkable Mark Little.
The thirty two years old man who had been a millionaire is now living with his parents, in their home, for he has lost all that fortune, on extravagant, often ludicrous expenses, at times on crazy investment in outrageous ideas, such as an umbrella with a battery that would dry itself, in order to avoid bringing drops of rain indoors.

Was it called the vaporella?

Admittedly, Mitch was also helped by alleged friends to waste all that money, men who  profited, made expenses in his name, stole the helicopter he had ordered for a lavish party for a few days and committed other excesses in his name.
When Warren Baldwin, the hero's father, comes home one  day to say that he has been retired earlier than expected and thus his retirement plan is severely affected, they have to think what they can do, given that they are one thousand dollars short, every month now.

Nonetheless, Mitch disagrees with the proposal to sell the house and he doesn't want to get a job either...when he would get one, his ex-girlfriend, Lindsay Ross, would jocularity observe that he is dressed like Tim Robbins in the most popular film of all time, Shawshank Redemption.
However, when his idea of offering a Room for Rent gains ground and a stranger, Carl Lemay aka the formidable Brett Gelman, comes immediately to take it, the project seems to be heading for troubled waters.

The stranger reminded me of Sharon Stone as The Muse, for he too comes from a nebulous background, as the urgently needed Salvation, paying from a very large pile of cash,the first month, then the last, seeing hesitation topping it then with more bills for incidentals, gas, electricity.
Carl and Mitch clash, albeit they may eventually find a way to work together, and the former millionaire finds that the tenant had been lying about his name, history, the license plates that he has hidden in a suitcase belong to a stolen car.

There are other similarities with the fantastic The Muse, in that Carl becomes more than a friend to the Baldwins - father and mother, he is an enemy of the son, for a while anyway- he looks like he is becoming a member of the family.
Worse...he seems to be evicting Mitch and taking his place.

Room for Rent is not as good as The Muse, or one of the classic comedies - Life of Brian, King of Comedy or Whitnail & I - but it is a good motion picture nevertheless.