JOE'S APARTMENT (1996)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 70 Minutes 15 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: John Payson
Cast: Jerry O'Connell, Megan Ward, Billy West, Jim Turner, Rose Kimmel, Robert Vaughn, Don Ho, Shiek Mahmud-Bey, Jim Sterling, David Huddleston, Vincent Pastore, Paul Bartel, Richard "Moby" Hall, Bam Bam Bigelow, Billy West, Tim Blake Nelson, BD Wong, Dave Chappelle, Godfrey, Rick Aviles
In director John Payson's bug-comedy Joe's Apartment (1996) the titular Joe (Jerry O'Connell, Piranha 3D), a nice gy, is a recent college grad fresh off the bus from Iowa. Arriving in NYC he's physically assaulted and robbed three time before he even leaves the bus station, finding out real quick that The Big Apple ain't no picnic for an Ohio boy, as well as discovering that an affordable apartment is near impossible to find (even in the mid-90s). That is until he meets street artist/musician Walter Shit (Jim Turner, Destroyer) who makes him wise to the ways of rent-controlled apartments, helping him take over a lease of the recently deceased Mrs. Grotowski (Rose Kimmel), with Joe posing as her son.
Joe settles into his new digs by putting up a lot of 90's alt rock posters, but not actually cleaning the place or disposing of the previous tenants belongings (not even her dentures that sit on the bathroom sink in mason jar!). He is also unaware that the apartment building where he is now living is the future site that Senator Dougherty (Robert Vaughn, Superman III) has chosen to build the world's largest prison complex; and for that to happen he needs the the current tenants to take a hike. To that end he enlists the help of the crooked property owner Alberto Bianco (60s crooner Don Ho) and his viciously dimwitted nephews Vlad (Shiek Mahmud-Bey, Leprechaun 6: Back 2 Tha Hood) and Jesus (Jim Sterling), to strong-arm the tenants into exiting, even if that means putting a trip wire at the top of the stairs sending them tumbling to the bottom, as was the case with poor old Mrs. Grotowski.
It turns out that Joe is the last tenant in the building, a truly decrepit and dilapidated structure worthy of demolition, and the apartment he's inherited is not only filthy, but inhabited by tens of thousands of cockroaches. The roaches love their new tenant though, Joe is just as filthy as they are, and they want to keep him around, which means they have to defend him against attack by Vlad and Jesus, now that he is the focus of their attention. The roaches reveal themselves (and their communicative abilities) to Joe one night when the thugs are breaking into his apartment, that they can not only talk (they only choose to keep it a secret from most people because they squish first and ask questions later), but that they sing Bugsby Berkely style, full on choreographed dance routines, and a pretty fun sense of humor - which all comes a shock to the recent arrival.
As weirded out as he is about it they reach an uneasy alliance, with new-to-town Joe and his roach pals making the best of it. However, the roaches, though well-intentioned they might be, prove to be detrimental to not only Joe's job search, but to his love-life. Joe finds a could-be love interest by way of the Senator's daughter Lily (Megan Ward, Trancers II, III) who is developing a community gardens in the vacant lots surrounding Joe's apartment, unaware of her father's future prison-plans. They hit it off well-enough, and Joe gets her back to his apartment, but when the roaches spill over onto her during a make-out sessions it's pretty ruinous to the romance.
Joe Apartment is a goofball/gross-out, evil property developer comedy that is super-silly, low-stakes and lightweight. It's not good but it is so goofy and weird that I adore it and the jokes, musical numbers and cartoonish slapstick quality of it still gets me laughing. One gag that always makes me laugh is when Joe gets mad at the roaches and tries gas them, and they go after him Gulliver's Travels style, he after accidentally knocking himself out he wakes up tied down to the floor surrounded by roaches as they try to smooth things over with him.
Aside from the cast already mentioned be on the lookout for appearances from David Huddleston (The Big Lebowski) and Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos), Paul Bartel (Eating Raul), and rocker Richard "Moby" Hall as Club DJ, plus pro-wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow, as well as the voice talents of Billy West (Futurama) as the roach in charge Ralph. Other roach-voices include Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and stand-up comedians BD Wong (M. Butterfly),
Dave Chappelle (Half-Baked), , Godfrey and the late Rick Aviles (Mondo New York), but as the voices are pitched it's difficult to single any of them out in my opinion.
Style wise I love the kinetic energy put into the look of it, at times it has a Sam Raimi (Evil Dead 2)/Barry Sonnenfeld (Addams Family) vibe to it that still pleases me. The roaches seen in the film are produced using real roaches, puppetry, and some stop-motion effects, as well as some early digital animation from Blue Sky Studios who would go onto produce the Ice Age flicks, and this was their first feature film. The musical numbers performed by the roaches are inventively animated and still look awesome, though not all the digital composited effects hold-up to HD scrutiny - but on the whole I absolutely love everything about this zany bug-infested apartment comey.
While this was a huge loser at the box-office I remember watching it at the theater with a lady friend during it's initial run, and I thought it was quite absurd and charming at the time, I laughed a lot; though all the cockroach stuff and Joe's disgusting apartment and lack of proper cleaning etiquette really grossed her out, as did the urinal cakes and manure-collecting subplots. I guess there's probably a segment of the population that might not enjoy the comedic elements just based on their disgust of roaches and filth, but I just think it's farcical and goody fun, the roaches and filth never deterred me, and it comes off like a gross-out live action cartoon.
Also fun is what a time capsule this is one the 90's alt rock/grunge-era, Joe's apartment is plastered with posters of Primus and a Frank Kozik designed concert poster from Soundgarden, White Zombie and Obituary t-shirts and hats, Joe reading underground comics by way of Eightball and Love and Hate, and music wise, as you might expect from an MTV Production the soundtrack is rather interesting, an eclectic mix of tunes from The Rentals, Soul Coughing, Green Day, De La Soul, Moby, Mad Ball, Lost Exit and a pretty raucous live performance from Boss Hog.
Audio/Video: Joe's Apartment (1996) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from the Warner Archive in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1). Not surprisingly the source looks fantastic, film grain is finely resolved and details in the close-ups is impeccable if at times disturbing when the roaches are crawling all over Joe, their legs and antenna/feelers rubbing against his eyelashes. The colors are also nicely vivid without overdoing it, the grime and filth looks appropriately gross, and splashed off color stand apart. The film was shot by Peter Deming whose done good work with Sam Raimi on Evil Dead 2 and Drag Me To Hell, as well as David Lynch on Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, and with Wes Craven on Scream 2-4. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles The track has excellent fidelity and some nice ative use of the surrounds, dialogue and the sound of roaches singing are clear and well-defined, and the soundtrack selections from The Rentals, Soul Coughing, Green Day, De La Soul, Moby, Mad Ball, Lost Exit and Boss Hog are full-bodied, as is the film score from longtime Coen Bros. collaborator Carter Burwell (Barton Fink).
Extras include a trio of classic WB cartoons; the 7-min Lady in Red (1935) featuring animated adventures of cockroaches at a restaurant; plus a pair of Chuck Jones directed shorts he did when he returned to WB in the 90's around the time of this films release, we get the 7-min From Hare To Eternity (1997); and one of my personal favorites, the 7-min Superior Duck (1996) with Donald Duck as an errant superhero, with cameos from Porky Pig, Marvin the Martian, Rooster Cogburn, and Superman himself! We also get the 2-min Original Theatrical Trailer.
Special Features:
- WB Cartoons: The Lady in Red (7:14); From Hare To Eternity (7:13), Superior Duck (6:41)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:50)
This is one of those flicks that absolutely tanked at the box office, but has acquired the coveted status of cult-classic in the years since on home video, cable and streaming over the years. I love that Warner Archive saw fit to bestow it a new restoration on Blu-ray, now I can happily trade in my ancient snapper-case DVD!
Screenshots from the Warner Archive Blu-ray:
Buy it from www.moviezyng.com:
Buy it from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vAF7nH
