Convinced that his fiancee is cheating on him, a man follows her to a hotel and calls his best friend to help him avoid a calamity.
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Powerful
Please don't spend money on this.
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Trying very hard to Look like a Film-Noir with some On-Screen References that are Blatant, like the Femme Fatale signing the Guest Register as Kathy Moffett (Out of the Past 1947), this Low-Budget Indie is an Exercise in Style that is not very Stylish.It doesn't seem to go to any length to be Visually Interesting. Sure the Old Hotel is there but it is just that, there as Backdrop to the Proceedings that Unfold, here we go again, Non-Linear, in such a Drab and Deficient Method that is almost Comatose. The Dialog is delivered as though Everyone, and that means Everyone, is Halting, searching for Words, and in a Dazed Stupor.The two Male Leads do some Amazing Overacting playing not too Bright Characters, but the rest of the Cast (Brittany Murphy's last role) is Adequate enough, with the Director Delivering a Slow-Burn and Fancy-less Film. This is all Leading to a, not-what-you-thought Ending, and is a Semi-Clever Wrap that is sort of Ho-Hum and will most likely leave Viewers with more Relief than Satisfaction.
One of those films, where the least said about the plot the better, so in an attempt to refrain from giving any spoilers I boil it down to one sentence. Julian (Mike Vogel) attempts to stop his best friend Terry (Danny Pino) from any making any rash choices after he follows his fiancée June (Brittany Murphy) rent a room at the River View hotel.Given the low IMDb ratings I didn't really expect much from this below-the-radar thriller. The movie itself is heavily influenced by two great directors. One of them is Alfred Hitchcock. The attempt at replicating the style of 50s and 60s thrillers is visibly apparent not only in the cinematographic style ripe with noir overhead shots, neons, stylisations and a need to push the suspense and tension ahead of action and cheap thrills. The whole movie itself if an old-fashioned hotel with a outdated bell-boy playing a key part in the build-up and story. Overflowing with a retro feel it becomes a stylish homage aimed at those who miss the good old days.On the other hand you can see the strong impact that Christopher Nolan has in updating the thriller genre and fully using the superior technical capabilities of modern film art to increase the mystery, growing tension and keep tabs on the plot. The whole story is expertly told in a non-linear fashion, where scenes from the past and present intermingle forcing you to logically put the pieces together (in a well-done mix-up of Innaritu storytelling and "Memento" type editing). Directed with swagger debutant Alex Merkin shows a lot of confidence and immense promise with the use of tools at his disposal.That said the movie does seem a tad overlong and given this was based on Merkin's short film it seems he essentially should have met somewhere in between at around 60-70 minutes. The movie tends to drag on incredibly as the script is pulled out in order to somehow reach a proper running time. The suspension drastically drops, although manages to get back on track with the final resolute bang of an ending. Basically a poster movie for the need to be able to be a bit shorter than the standard 90-120 minutes of the Hollywood 'full length feature'.Honestly the script itself is in the most part wildly predictable, as the movie is mostly pushed ahead thanks to its style, while not putting enough pressure on the story itself. The mismatch of the mediocre story and the overstretched plot almost derails the meticulous set-designed and claustrophobic noir feel to the movie.Acting creds are generally fine with Brad Greenquist as the Porter giving the best performance of the lot. All in all worth a watch and I could see Merkin making a name for himself given a script with actually can fill-up the required runtime.
I was completely caught off guard by this film. It has a great classic film/noir feel to it which is far too uncommon these days. That it was clearly accomplished on a smaller than Hollywood budget is all the more impressive. The pacing is steady and deliberate which may throw some viewers off, but there is so much texture and richness to each scene that you have the opportunity to really take it all in and feel/experience the mood and atmosphere, unlike most movies in this genre (think Mad Men, one of the best shows on TV, in this respect). The acting, cinematography, music, lighting and direction are across the board very impressive. I started watching thinking I would only sit through about 20 mins or so, but I was totally compelled to watch the entire thing (twice actually!) and found myself incredibly engaged. In terms of story and twists, I quite enjoyed the way the structure of the film really didn't cheat or force these elements. Upon the second viewing I found really interesting clues that would have allowed me to figure things out the first time if I had noticed them then (pay attention to expressions, time of day and even the drink glasses in the film). The plot and story is very tightly woven together. Its easy to dismiss some of these things as cheap or devisive but thats a lazy criticism. They are clearly carefully crafted and not just thrown in there.I hope to see this film hit theaters soon as I would love to experience it on the big screen. There are shades of Hitchcock and Kubrick that really excite me about a project like this. I don't know that its actually a 10, maybe an 8 or 9 (who knows?), but film efforts like this deserve major praise and hopefully this one will gain major momentum. Kudos to the creative team for bringing a smart, non effects-driven, character based thriller to creation. This is excellent work.
If you want to really enjoy this film, don't forget to switch off your brain before viewing. From the beginning titles throughout the all film you will as well enjoy the atmosphere of the hotel, the smart photography, the music score and the decent performance of the actors. Alas, don't expect anyone of the characters do something intelligent, especially the guy who is completely innocent and then flees (just to get caught a few storeys below) like he had something to hide or be afraid of. If you are curious about how a script can be messy and how easy it is to have holes in a plot, you should check this flick out. (the vote 1 is to correct the misleading official IMDb rating)