The Apartment (1960)

The critic calls it an unforgettable classic romance that veils its darker side as light comedy and earned five Oscars. It singles out Lemmon’s sympathetic performance and the redemption arc for particular praise.

This is the perfect rom-com, not because it is light but because it is dark, brilliantly balancing light and dark with gritty material infused with compassion. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are splendid as a damaged odd couple in one of the most exquisite pairings in rom-com history.

Wilder's film is his funniest after Some Like It Hot and a bittersweet love story that balances cynicism with romance; MacMurray is sleazy, MacLaine and Lemmon shine, and the spaghetti-straining scene is a masterstroke.

Ebert finds the film a precise balance of farce and sadness, praising its adult sensibility about working life and corporate values. He singles out the performances of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine for anchoring the story and giving it emotional weight.

The re-release shows the film as fresher than many classics; its barbed jokes about office affairs and the shift from farce to affecting drama in the overdose scene stand out, with strong performances from Lemmon and MacLaine.

The critic views the film as a prescient indictment of toxic masculinity and corporate culture, highlighting its blend of comedy and drama through the story of a man enabling his bosses' affairs while falling for the woman involved. It singles out the nuanced performances of Lemmon and MacLaine and the film's timeless relevance for praise.

The critic finds this a sharper, multi-Oscar-winning comedy that traces corporate compromises and the self-deception in romantic liaisons. It singles out the exquisite design, black-and-white photography, and strong performances from Lemmon and MacLaine for praise.

The review appreciates the film's bleak vision of corporate servitude and its middle ground of somber tragedy undercut by awkward comedy, praising the performances and Wilder's direction in balancing tones.

Scheuer praises Wilder for handling risqué situations with innocent wonderment and eliciting top seriocomic playing from the cast. He highlights the film's frank commentary on contemporary morals while avoiding excess.

Billy Wilder's The Apartment is a big-city satire with a romantic heart of gold and a welcome re-release. It is a tendresse with complications featuring luminous performances from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine.

The critic praises Billy Wilder's film as an important and provocative work that delivers a blistering commentary on amoral society through humor and romance. The sparkling direction and performances, especially Jack Lemmon's, make it highly entertaining despite tonal shifts.

Crowther calls the film gleeful, tender and even sentimental, crediting Billy Wilder's clever direction and Jack Lemmon's grand performance as the amiable bachelor. He notes the strong support from Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray.

Billy Wilder's The Apartment is a remarkable film that feels truly radical and chimes with modern preoccupations about office politics and corporate life. It marks the high-water mark of Wilder's career with its harsh yet perfectly observed environment.

The review commends the one-hook plot for delivering high comedy, warmth and strong performances from Lemmon, MacLaine and MacMurray. It notes Wilder's skill sustains the film despite some looseness in the second half.

The critic calls The Apartment the best film of the 1960s, praising its brilliant script, Jack Lemmon's genius performance, and how it cuts through cynicism with decency and humanity.

The critic hails Billy Wilder's The Apartment as a dark, satirical masterpiece about corporate immorality and personal change, praising its avoidance of moralizing and Jack Lemmon's humane performance as the standout element.

Wilder’s The Apartment is one of the most enduring and beloved romantic comedies of all time, though it is not without its dark side and is essentially antithetical in tone to the rom-coms of today. It employs serious, dark undertones and even evinces a suicide attempt, but is done more truthfully and heartbreakingly than modern entries in the genre.