if you've ever perused my college comedy diary " another year in the life of a nerd " ( i never run out of cheap plugs ) , you know i didn't get along with my first-semester roommate too well . 
in fact , during the three-week period between thanksgiving and christmas break , i said a total of four sentences to him . 
so when i saw in the residence hall cable listings a movie called roommates , i envisioned 90 minutes of conflict between a couple of bickering young adults trapped in a 10 x 13 foot dorm room . 
then i saw that the star of roommates is peter falk . 
scratch that idea . 
but i still say someone should film the story of two college roommates whose relationship is less than ideal . 
of course , in my case it would be a silent picture . 
even without the college element , i still decided to watch roommates because i had absolutely nothing to do , unless you count studying for final exams ( and who does ? ) . 
i'm glad i did . 
peter falk's performance was actually what made the movie . 
and this is a guy i never considered a real actor , more like someone who went around in a trenchcoat solving prescripted mysteries . 
falk pleasantly surprised me here , permanently earning my respect , so all you " columbo " fans who think i live to insult the guy can just falk off . 
falk plays rocky , a 107-year-old polish baker who raises his grandson after both the kid's parents die . 
the movie begins with the mom's death and the son moving in with his grandparents . 
after a couple stops along the son's journey to manhood , roommates progresses to the present day , with the grandson a surgeon and rocky in a condemned house he refuses to leave . 
the surgeon reluctantly offers the only possible solution -- rocky will have to move into his place , the basement of a building rented by a group of chinese students ( " communists ! " ) . 
the movie spans nine more years of rocky's relationship with his grandson , and the trials posed when the grandson meets and falls in love with--gasp--a woman , and starts spending all his time with her . 
so , in his grandson's absence , rocky turns his pursuits to professional boxing , achieveing the world heavyweight title in a climactic fight with apollo creed . . . 
or am i confusing movie plots again ? 
roommates has an almost epic feel to it , covering several generations of a family with one fiesty immigrant who refuses to die . 
death , though , knocks at the door of almost every other major character in the the movie . 
roommates has about as many casualties as the first halloween . 
the number can't be counted on one hand , unless of course you're the victim of some hideous genetic mutation . 
and you can probably guess who says farewell to planet earth at the end of the movie ( no , not duran duran ) . 
i won't come out and say it . 
instead , i'll just sit here and hum " eye of the tiger " until each and every one of you figures it out . 
roommates plays on all the major emotions . 
it knows when to make you laugh and when to make you cry . 
movies that can perfectly mix comedy and drama are always hits with the audience , even though this one bombed at the theaters . 
my point ? 
there are no absolutes . 
or , another possible point , peter falk just isn't such a great box office draw . 
either way , this is still a good movie and you should give it a chance like i did , whether you hate your roommate or not .