THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL Reviewed on April 10th, 2001 By Jerry Saravia
"The Million Dollar Hotel" is the kind of film that is suffused with fantastic imagery, splendid cinematography, offbeat atmosphere and frankly, little else. it's a film to feast the eyes but not the heart. Plainly put, Wim Wenders' new film flies off of the handle so often you wonder if it will ever sit to ponder. It never does.
Based on a story idea by good old Bono, "The Million Dollar Hotel" is set in the year 2001 in L.A., focusing on a fleabag hotel called The Million Dollar Hotel (the site of Bono's music video "Where The Streets Have No Name.") Apparently, a peculiar hotel guest named Izzy Goldkiss (Tim Roth) jumped off the roof of the hotel, but could he have been murdered or did he commit suicide? That is what an unlikable FBI agent (Mel Gibson) is out to discover, and not with the help of these hotel misfits. The most notable is a slow-witted, naive punk (Jeremy Davies) who is in love with a woman (Milla Jovovich) who claims she is not real - she is fiction, a nobody.
And that may be the problem with "Million Dollar Hotel" overall. These characters are shallow misfits with no interesting personalities or remarkable insights. Actors such as Jimmy Smits, Gloria Stuart and Peter Stormare (as a supposedly fifth Beatle) run through the screen without making much of an impression. It is like watching a wax museum of fuzzy, anonymous portraits with no pulse. However, it is nice to see Stuart cussing up a storm with the film's one memorable line: "We are all f***ed up!"
What saves the film somewhat is the tender love story between Davies and Jovovich, though it does become tedious after a while. I also liked Mad Mel who is far more restrained than usual, resembling the Frankenstein monster with scars in his back and a neck brace. The slow pacing and long takes are often breathtaking (sometimes recalling Wenders' own "Wings of Desire.") The songs by Bono are pointed and haunting, and the film does fascinate. It just doesn't involve us.
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E-mail me with any questions, complaints or general comments at faustus_08520@yahoo.com
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