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Million Dollar Hotel review
:. Director: Wim Wenders
:. Starring: Jeremy Davies, Milla Jovovich
:. Running Time: 2:02
:. Year: 2000
:. Country: USA
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With its opening scene of a slow-motion sunset and its soundtrack the Million Dollar hotel resembles a U2 pop video. This is not by chance as this Wim Wenders film (Wings of Desire, Buena Vista Social Club) is based on a script by his friend Bono.
The result is that the project is more deceiving than enticing. The film takes place around the Million Dollar Hotel, a hotel in LA where U2 filmed one of their videos. The place seems to be a refuge for all the weirdos in the neighborhood, of which the simpleton Tom Tom (Jeremy Davies) and the down-and-out Louise (Milla Jovovich) are particularly so. The death of a resident (Tim Roth) who is the son of a very rich businessman leads to the opening of an investigation led by disabled FBI agent Skinner (Mel Gibson). So the detective turns the place upside down all the while letting us discover this 'circus'. 'Circus', because under the pretext of telling a bizarre story in the style of Wenders, Bono's script shows a gallery of grotesque personalities and caricatures pushed to the extreme with the sole aim of shocking us or making us laugh. In both cases it falls flat and succeeds only in rare moments. We are treated to a long and indigestible film, where only boredom prevails.
The individual acting is a long way from raising the collective performance. With the exception of Milla Jovovich, the cast seem to have agreed to act in excess. Their overacting or absence of any acting makes the film all the more insurmountable. We note in particular the excruciating Mel Gibson and the laughable Jimmy Smits although Jeremy Davies is among the most tiring.
So what's left of the film? A good original soundtrack composed mainly of exclusive tracks by U2 leads us to the conclusion that 1) Bono should remain in his capacity as a provocative singer 2) Wim Wenders should take care with the scripts he accepts from his musician friends. If his camera lent itself perfectly to Ry Cooder's musical project (Buena Vista Social Club), it sinks badly with Bono's script. Certainly, Wenders visual style is ever present with some sublime views of LA but on emotional, depth and narrative levels, the film falls flat.
You won't want to check in at the Million Dollar Hotel.
Fred Thom
Translated by Nick Harrison
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