Quartile rating: 8.5/10 · 1 rating
Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.
The Apartment is a Billy Wilder masterpiece that earns top marks across most dimensions. The plot is a razor-sharp blend of cynical social commentary and romantic comedy — the corporate ladder-climbing-via-apartment-lending conceit is brilliantly constructed with escalating stakes. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine deliver career-defining performances, with Fred MacMurray's against-type casting as a charming cad adding another layer. Joseph LaShelle's widescreen black-and-white cinematography, especially the iconic deep-focus shots of the insurance office, is visually stunning and thematically resonant. Novelty is exceptionally high — Wilder's tonal balancing act, mixing workplace satire, moral ambiguity, suicide, and warm romance in one cohesive whole, remains singular in Hollywood history. The ending, while iconic and emotionally satisfying ('Shut up and deal'), is somewhat abrupt and tidier than the film's darker undertones might warrant, keeping it from a perfect score in that dimension.