Apartment 12 (2001)

Alex, the aspiring artist who paints geometrical images on wood, seems to be highly influenced by Josef Albers, the abstract painter whose geometrical canvases were a rage in the fifties and sixties. Alex is not that lucky though. As the film starts he receives a rejection from the gallery owner who tells him, more or less, to keep his daytime job delivering pizzas. To make matters worse, his girlfriend Yvette, dumps him. What's a struggling young artist to do when he is locked out of the place he had been sharing with Yvette? Well, finding a new apartment in Los Angeles proves to be an easy thing; luckily Alex doesn't live in crowded and pricey Manhattan. He gets a place in a building where Ray, the super, proves to be a friendly guy. Next, we get to meet the neighbors, who include the whining Sylvia, a woman who loves to cook "junk casseroles" made with Spam, which Alex finds revolting. There is also a prostitute down the hall and a Latin gigolo who is much too cool. When apartment 11 becomes empty, a nice young woman, Lori, rents in. Alex, who is reluctant to get involved, at first, likes his neighbor and suddenly they are into a nice and cozy relationship.Alex, unfortunately, runs into trouble when he misreads Lori's invitation to meet her parents. Things go worse when Lori starts seeing a lawyer from the building where she works. In desperation, Alex, who doesn't know what else to do, and feels the inspiration to paint escape him throws one of Sylvia's casseroles to one of his paintings and that gives him the idea about what road to take to sell his newly made avant-garde paintings. And yes, Lori comes back to him when it's clear they were made for one another.Imagine a new director blessed with a dream casting! This must have been Dan Bootzin's coup in making this charming indie comedy. Mark Ruffalo, as Alex, is the main attraction for watching this neat movie. Having seen Mr. Ruffalo in the New York stage, as well as having seen most of his films, we were looking forward to watching this one. He doesn't disappoint! It appears the director had a nice rapport with his talented cast. Beth Ulrich plays Lori with a naturalness that surprises. Alan Gelfant is Ray, the intrusive super, and Mary Coleston has some excellent moments as the busy-body Sylvia.It's a shame Dan Bootzin is not kept busy directing, as he shows he has a knack for the job.

Alex is a painter, each of whose canvases is just one big window-sized slab of yellow (or red, or whatever color it happens to be). Not only his art but his life lacks inspiration: his one-man show is not to be, his girlfriend just walked out, he's moved into a building full of oddballs and he's back delivering pizza to pay the rent. I expected this flick to turn into a sitcom, but it got better as it went along, developing characters and relationships, especially the one between artsy liberal snob Alex and his new neighbor Lori, whose magnum pistol, martial arts skills and utter lack of sophistication generate the contempt he has for her, despite the fact that they're having a physical relationship. Throw in the wacky neighbors, like the bathrobe-clad Lothario/one-man Greek Chorus who wanders the halls and delivers his observations in Spanish, the super-nosy super, the big-busted strip-o-gram girl, the horny, man-devouring Biddie and a couple of others and you've got funny and touching portraits of a by turns lovable and unlovable loser and the colorful characters in his orbit. Don't know why, exactly, but this story reminded me a bit of Steve Buscemi's terrific "Tree's Lounge" - another indie about a loser and his odd pals. This one's cute and it's got a happier ending. For the price of your admission you get "early" Mark Ruffalo (2001) in an affecting role and cute, largely unknown Beth Ulrich, who's a find.

Slow and predictable because it ends like most movies in this genre. Beth Ulrich plays a surprisingly refreshing girl next door, but Mark Ruffalo plays a common role and does an average job at it. There is good chemistry between Ulrich and Ruffalo which really makes the movie worthy of being watched at least once. I think what's odd is this overall sense of dread that you get from the first 4/5ths of the movie. There are parts of this movie that will provide a bit of chuckle. Unlike some movies in this genre, it's not much of tear jerker. However, it should leave you feeling a little warm and fuzzy.I would recommend this movie to anyone who has experienced heartbreak or just has a rainy day to spend away.

The downside is that this is pretty much another indie romantic comedy about a backed-up artist who meets a girl and just can't quite get his act together.The upside is that it's at times very funny, with quirky, well-drawn characters and terrific performances, particularly by a pre-"You Can Count on Me" Mark Ruffalo.On the whole, it's worth checking out.