Single Room Furnished

I think I've seen enough movies adapted from stage plays at this point to say with some assurance that it is NOT a good idea. Single Room Furnished is so boring I struggled to make it to the end - not an uncommon reaction from me when it comes to a play-adapted film.

This is a visual medium, part of the appeal of watching a movie is seeing things happen. A problem with movies made from plays that I've seen is that they tend to be little more than people sitting around talking the whole time. Nothing ever happens. Instead of seeing many of the scenes of people doing anything other than talking we listen to characters describing it. -yawn- I'm not saying that kind of idea is always bad, I enjoy 12 Angry Men a great deal, but there is conflict and action that tells a current story instead of doing nothing but droning on about events unseen.

This film is sort of a series of short stories within a frame story. Jayne Mansfield's character (whose character name changes in each story so I'll just refer to her as Jayne to keep it simple) is the primary subject. A young girl in Jayne's apartment building idolizes her because of her beauty and style. She doesn't know what an empty shell of a life Jayne leads. When Mary gets ticked off at her mother for hindering her social life her father begins telling her stories to explain (in a long drawn-out way) why they disapprove of keeping too much company with Jayne.

So we launch into a story that consists of Jayne and her distant young husband sitting on a fire escape talking. Then they reminisce about meeting at a dance for the first time which consists of them walking around the dace floor talking. Then it's back to the fire escape for more talking. Next comes a story about Flo and Charlie who work on the doc, standing around fish barrels talking endlessly. Flo drones on and on about nothing in particular. After a while they end up at a pub to talk more which results in a flashback of Charlie and Jayne talking. Eventually we end up with prostitute Jayne talking to some guy who whines a lot and more or less admits to being a stalker. The end of this last scene is the only point in the whole hour and a half that feels like it's of any consequence at all. Something actually happens in this scene, and we get to see people react rather than just talk.

Besides a wearily slow pace there are other problems. The acting is at times over the top and other times seems like the actors are about to fall asleep. Watching people talk in sleepy tones is not conducive to keeping my attention. Besides that the dialogue comes across as stilted, and the reactions feel off. This might work on stage but doesn't in a movie.

MORALITY:

Jayne is a prostitute so there is some sexual suggestion but only in the dialogue since we never see anything happen, and that's quite mild.

We get a vague suggestion of violence, very little mild strong language, and nothing else.

SPIRITUALITY:

I suppose there could be something here as a warning about living the kind of life that Jayne does. Her prostitute ways have not brought her happiness or fulfillment. Although the young girl thinks she's glamorous because of her social charms, Jayne's life is a superficial one.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This is a giant snore of a movie. Maybe it works on stage or looked good on paper, but I highly recommend avoiding this thing.

#SingleRoomFurnished