Most kids dream about the day they’ll finally head off to college.  They fantasize about the freedom to do whatever they want whenever they want.  They think about a life of independence, finally free from their parents’ control.  They imagine their new lives living alone or with a roommate. They picture their perfect life with lots of new friends.  It’s probably safe to say they never imagined going to a great college without anyone they knew before arriving and finding themselves rooming with a crazy girl who wanted to become them.  Well, that is unless you’re Sara Matthews from The Roommate.

Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly) arrives at the University of Los Angeles, completely alone given that she just broke up with her boyfriend, so she’s looking forward to starting over during college with her new roommate.  While moving in she meets dorm mates, Tracy Morgan (Alyson Michalka) and Kim Johnson (Katerina Graham).  Even though Sara was planning on waiting in her dorm to meet her new roommate, her dorm mates convince her to go out with them to a frat party.

While at the frat party, Sara and Tracy drink a bit too much jungle juice and Tracy gets a bit out of control.  With help from the heartthrob frat-boy, Stephen (Cam Gigandet), who Sara just met, they bring Tracy back to the dorms.  As if the first night couldn’t get any more complicated, Sara stumbles into her room where her new roommate, Rebecca, has already arrived, unpacked, and gone to sleep.  The girls briefly introduce themselves before Sara passes out.

The next day the girls begin to become friends, and the closer they get, the more controlling Rebecca becomes of Sara.  When Sara goes out with clubbing with Tracy and Tracy leaves without Sara, Rebecca sympathetically comes to get Sara, but she isn’t so forgiving of Tracy; she attacks her in the dorm showers and threatens Tracy to stay away from Sara.  When Sara stays out late with her new frat-boy boyfriend, Rebecca makes a scene in the dorm hallways.  When Sara faces troubles with her professor, Rebecca goes to extreme measures to have him fired.  When Sara’s ex-boyfriend, Jason (Matt Lanter), won’t back off, Rebecca takes things into her own hands, literally.  When Sara mentions the possibility of moving in with her friend, Irene (Danneel Harris), Rebecca hooks up with her to find out more about her and her apartment.  When the stray cat Sara found, Cuddles, poses the possibility of making Sara move out, Rebecca puts her in a dryer and kills her.  When Rebecca hears about Sara’s deceased sister, Emily, and sees Sara’s tattoo, she goes to a tattoo parlor to get a matching tattoo of Emily’s name.  Bit by bit, she begins to show her true personality: crazy.

Rebecca progressively becomes more controlling of Sara until she finally snaps.  From there, things only get creepier.

Overall, the movie was okay, but was completely predictable.  I’m such a baby when it comes to scary movies, but I didn’t get scared by The Roommate at all.  I didn’t scream once.  I will admit that it was entertaining, but I wouldn’t recommend seeing it in theatres.

The movie definitely had a great cast covering just about every TV series that a high school student might watch.  There was Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl), Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights), Cam Gigandet (The O.C.), Alyson Michalka (Hellcats), Danneel Harris (One Tree Hill), Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries), and Matt Lanter (90210).  They all did an adequate job, but I guess it was just a bit hard to believe the story when Meester played the psychotic roommate rather than the deceitful Blair Waldorf she’s known for in Gossip Girl.

Do I recommend this movie for a date night? No.  Do I recommend it for a fun night with friends?  Maybe, but only if you have every intention of making fun of it; trust me, it’ll be easy to.

The Roommate is rated PG-13.