"Shut up and deal." The Apartment is not a traditional romantic comedy, and its ending is certainly not traditional either. Bud has been currying favor at the office by allowing married upper management to use his bachelor pad for their romantic dalliances, but there's a slight complication when he finds himself in love with one of the girls brought over, an elevator operator named Fran. After she attempts suicide in his apartment and finally finds herself well shut of the married man she'd been seeing, Bud can't hide his feelings for her any longer. So he tells her, in his bumbling, Jack Lemmon-y kind of way. Her response? "Shut up and deal." It's clear that she loves him very much, but she's just not the kind of girl who needs to make grand romantic pronouncements. This is in stark contrast to a lot of other romantic comedies coming out at the time, which were usually chock full of romantic monologues and swelling music. It's a modern touch that helps The Apartment avoid feeling dated, and still entirely accessible to audiences in 2014.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
