Roommates - DaaVeeDee

Roommates (DVD) (*)

$25.99

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
Danish ( Subtitles )
Dutch ( Subtitles )
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
English ( Subtitles )
Finnish ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Surround )
French ( Subtitles )
Norwegian ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Surround )
Spanish ( Subtitles )
Swedish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
105 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1995 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Peter Yates

Written By:
Max Apple

Actors:
Peter Falk ..... Rocky Holzcek
D.B. Sweeney ..... Michael Holzcek
Julianne Moore ..... Beth Holzcek
Ellen Burstyn ..... Judith
Jan Rubes ..... Bolek Krupa
Joyce Reehling ..... Barbara
Ernie Sabella ..... Stash
John Cunningham ..... Burt Shook
Noah Fleiss ..... Michael at age 5
Lisa Davis ..... Betty
Rohn Thomas ..... Kevin
Karl Mackey ..... Milan Postevic
Reverend Zygmund Szarnicki ..... Funeral Priest
L.A. McConnell ..... Bully At Baseball Game (as Chance Marquez)
David Cutter ..... Peanut Vendor

Synopsis:

At 107, Rocky Holeczek is the oldest employed baker in Pittsburgh. His roommate is his grandson Michael, a 35-year-old surgeon whom he has raised since childhood--and continues to guide into manhood. Their saga spans over 30 years, beginning when Rocky is 75 years old. During the course of their life together, Michael's world expands to include a wife, children, an overly attentive mother-in-law and a busy career in medicine. Through all the changes, one thing between them remains constant: Rocky's determination to stick around for as long as it takes to teach Michael what he needs to know about living.

In the film Happy New Year (1987), actor Peter Falk donned old-age makeup to play a senior citizen. Eight years later, he did it again, twice, in the TV movie remake of The Sunshine Boys (1995) and this film, a comedy-drama. Falk stars as Rocky Holzcek, a cantankerous 76-year-old Polish-American baker who insists, despite relatives' protests, upon adopting his young grandson Michael when the boy's parents pass away. Twenty years later, Michael (D.B. Sweeney) is a medical student who's forced to take in his still-spry grandfather when the old man is evicted from his apartment building. Although the crusty, outspoken Rocky gets along fine with Michael's Chinese college roommates, he is less enthused about his grandson's girlfriend Beth (Julianne Moore). Eventually, Michael and Beth marry, move away and have children, while Rocky continues working as a baker, passing the age of 100. When a tragedy befalls Michael and his kids, the old man once again comes to his grandson's rescue, but even a force of nature like Rocky can't last forever. Roommates was loosely based on the real-life experiences of screenwriter Max Apple and his grandfather.

The story concerns the relationship between a medical school student and his grandfather who share an apartment and a series of turbulent experiences. 25-year-old medical student Michael becomes a hospital intern at Ohio State. When his grandfather Rocky is evicted from his longtime home in Pittsburgh Michael has to take him in. Rocky is critizising and sabotaging Michael's life, especially Michael's relationship with social worker Beth. Beth and Michael eventually marry and move back to Pittsburgh, leaving Rocky in Columbus, where he has accepted work as a baker.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 26 June, 2009.