Juliet (Hilary Swank) is a pretty and successful ER doctor who has just left her cheating husband Jack (Lee Pace). After some apartment-hunting, she finds the perfect place: a spacious flat with an amazing view, at a price she can afford, and with a gorgeous landlord named Max (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). And as it turns out, it is all too good to be true…
Her only neighbor besides Max is Max’s strange grandfather (Christopher Lee), who seems a little too worried that Juliet is living all alone. And Juliet is starting to feel something is wrong too- she feels like she is not alone, but dismisses the though as paranoia. She also decides to listen to her best friend (Aunjanue Ellis)’ advice and flirt with Max. But Juliet is not over Jack and well…Max has a much darker side that he has so far been able to keep from her….
**
I’d been waiting for The Resident for months. I am a really big fan of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, as well as Hilary Swank and Lee Pace. I was also pleasantly surprised to see The Mentalist’s Madeleine Hightower – Aunjanue Ellis – as the cheerful sidekick, encouraging her best friend to have great rebound sex. This was a fun little contrast to her high-rank CBI officer character in The Mentalist.
But my fondness of the cast unfortunately couldn’t stop me from getting bored. The movie was off to a slow start, which I attributed to tension-building. But Juliet’s getting spooked in her house over and over again, with floors cringing… got old really quickly. Lee Pace didn’t really have much to offer as Jack is nothing more than a mundane, cheating husband trying to take his wife back. And Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s badass skills were certainly wasted as Max. Max, while turning out to be very creepy (and pathetic at that), is not scary at all. And a thriller/horror film needs a scary, compelling villain who is supposed to nail us to our seats and not bore us.
I know Morgan can pull off a badass because he did brilliantly as The Comedian in Watchmen. The Comedian, supposedly a hero, shot a pregnant woman without blinking because she was getting on his nerves. Now, that was spooky.
The Resident’s Max had an interesting background, only implied at. I wish we had seen his past, and scarier insights. But like many thrillers, The Resident failed to gave us smart “victims” as well as a smart villain.
**
To sum up? The Resident is a mediocre thriller, at best I wasn’t rooting for anyone in the movie as Juliet was “unforgiving” enough to move to a 3800/month apartment, only to get back with Jack – but not before she unsuccessfully tried to have sex with Max…Ouch.
It can be watched for the love of the cast, I guess but only if you lower your expectations. Currently rated at 5.4 on IMDB.
Fun notes:
– Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilary Swank co-starred previously in the romantic drama/comedy P.S.I Love You. Also in P.S. I love you, Swank was trying to have rebound sex with Jeffrey Dean. However this time, her marriage was over because her husband died. The husband was played by Gerard Butler.
– Lee Pace is a Golden Globe nominated actor. He played a transgendered nightclub singer in a true story.
Also on Hilary Swank:
P.S. I Love You starring Gerard Butler, Hilary Swank & Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Also on Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Supernatural starring Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles feat. Jeffrey Dean Morgan
The Accidental Husband: Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Gerard Butler, Richard Gere and Jeffrey Dean Morgan: Allure of the Older Guy
40 Somethings That Would Make 20-year-olds Jealous
Also on Lee Pace
Possession starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lee Pace and Michael Landes
Soldier’s Girl: A Haunting True Story starring Lee Pace and Troy Garity
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day starring Amy Adams, Frances McDormand and Lee Pace
The Fall starring Lee Pace and Catinca Untaru
When in Rome starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel. feat. Lee Pace
The Good Shepherd starring Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie & Lee Pace
