"Motel Destino" is a quiet but eventful erotic thriller with traces of a contemporary noir as it tells a story about the need
to escape and all the obstacles that come with such escape. In this desperate desire for escaping one can find himself trapped in
other situations, or find himself a place to stay and a destiny to be fulfilled.
Our hero, the young Heraldo (Iago Xavier) finds both while
using a motel in a desert area of Ceará as a hiding place, running away from a group of criminals due to his failure with a hit that end up badly to a comrade. His initial
plan was to do one final crime job and move to São Paulo to find an honest job. The motel of the title is run by a couple, the middle-aged Elias
(Fábio Assunção) and his wife Dayana (Nataly Rocha), him as a manager and her as a multi-task receptionist. In return for helping him, Heraldo
works at the motel fixing electrical things or whatever needs fixing and cleaning. In that conjuction of loners, Elias finds on Heraldo a hard-working friend and
Dayana gets a new lover in a torrid affair, hidden from her husband and also from the custumers who attend the place (barely seen, mostly heard
through loud sexual moaning in the background). Love blossoms with the new couple, but Heraldo still worries about his mates on the run to find him.
Karim Aïnouz' latest film is compelling but not fully; sexy and daring but with little thrills and many unexpected humor. It's almost as if
taken elements of film noir (loners, problematic and violent characters) but placing inside a motel located around the amazingly beautiful beaches of
Ceará - it's such beautiful sight that it's like seeing another world. There's an emotional complexity to the story, which is good but you may feel
emptied out or feeling that little was gained or experienced. It's not edgy as it could be but it satisfies a little and excites a lot. Deep down is a film about the human element of hiding and how those characters deal with
escaping themselves from dangerous situations, hiding from themselves and from others (as evidenced by Elias small moves on Heraldo) and ultimately each form of
escape brings many unexpected results: passion, love, violence or death.
Another main attractive of "Motel Destino" comes from the acting. Iago and Nataly formed an interesting and sexually charged couple with a
great chemistry. Though I don't find his acting so strong and his delivery of some lines sound strange, I find him very suitable for the role.
Heraldo becomes a center of attention with good reasons as there's a peculiar common man sexy appeal to him that attracts both women and men (we
have a fourth worker at the hotel, played by Yuri Yamamoto, who fancies Heraldo but the script reduced him in the background with whispered lines
and later one pivotal moment). For a newcomer, Iago was pretty fine in the most daring sex sequences.
And then there's Fábio Assunção. What a performance, what a role! There's a whole generation who remembers him as the soap opera heartthrob of
a few decades ago, and others who just followed his decline of some time ago. He doesn't make many movies, but with this one he's destined to become
memorable as a film actor as well. He truly dominates the scene as Elias, a manager his 50's (but a lot fit for his age, like the actor) who is
friendly but mysterious, playful and who likes to joke around (showing the sex toys to an embarassed Heraldo) yet you can sense an erratic side of
him that can bring danger. Without Fábio, it would be another actor playing the cliched cheated husband role. There are layers with this character
which are all fun and intriguing to see, and that makes his best role ever since the TV show "Celebridade" way back in a time when I only considered
him a great presence but not a good actor. He is good here!
If we were to put a moral in "Motel Destino" it'd be don't get your meat where you get your bread. But who can resist temptation and who
can predict that that special someone can be found when you're not looking, and especially in a place like that? The mysterious ways of fate are
always at play, but it's up with destiny as to what one decides to do; those two hardly ever match. 8/10.
