Duplex

Duplex (released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Our House and in Poland as The Old Lady Must Go) is a 2003 American black comedy film directed by Danny DeVito (who also narrated the film) and written by Larry Doyle. The film stars Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore with Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Wisdom, Justin Theroux and James Remar in supporting roles. Plot Young, professional New York couple Alex Rose and Nancy Kendricks are in search of their dream home. The seemingly perfect Brooklyn brownstone duplex has one flaw: Mrs. Connelly, an old Irish lady who lives on the rent-controlled top floor. Assuming she won't live long, they buy the apartment. However, they soon realize Mrs. Connelly is lively, enjoys blasting her TV 24-7 and rehearsing in a brass band. A novelist, Alex must finish his latest against a looming deadline. However, he is interrupted constantly daily by Mrs. Connelly, and it quickly escalates into an all-out war. They try to get her to move out, but she refuses. Next, they try to file a noise complaint against her, but discover that she has gone to the police first and filed a harassment charge against them. Their friends turn against them when she play-acts as the "poor, innocent, old lady" making it appear they are out to harm her. Nancy loses her job and Alex misses his deadline thanks to the old lady's antics, so they are trapped at home together with Mrs. Connelly with no place to go. Their rage turns to homicidal fantasy as they plot ways to get rid of their manipulative, no-good neighbor. Peace overtures and a break-in lead to nothing, so they hire a hitman, Chick, to kill her. His asking price for the hit is $25,000. Desperate and needing the money in two days, they sell almost everything they own to pay for the Christmas Eve hit.