The Million Dollar Hotel

Subject: Million Dollar Hotel (2000)

A lovely, lyrical, magical film about many ideas, not the least of which is the strength of the weak. The plot revolves around several "loonies" in a hotel for those with no where else to go. Billed as a murder mystery, I suppose it is that, too. Barely. I had no interest in who the killer was. Just wanted these people's lives to unfold before me forever. Mel Gibson does a very interesting and funny parody of his cop persona; the actor who plays Tom Tom is terrific as a presumably dim-witted gopher to the various inhabitants (he calls himself "the beggar's butler"),Milla Jovovich is a leading lady of sorts, a constant smoker and reader who describes herself as fictional; and, Jimmy Smits as Geronimo, a Latino Indian-chief wannabe, an artist in hiding and up-front scam artist. I'm not a film reviewer, and I have always been partial to Wenders' films. That being said, I'm going downstairs now to watch the film again. P.S. Bono! Who knew?

This for sure one of those movies where you will "get it" or you won't. I liked The Million Dollar Hotel right from the first time I watched it and I did rewatch it a few times.

A rating of 5.9 (at the moment of writing my review) is of course a sad fact - if I compare that rating with all those top-ratings of 8+ for all those shallow, boring, at most mediocre and artless blockbusters Hollywood and companies like Marvel/DC mass publish in our days.

There is a chance you will enjoy The Million Dollar Hotel a lot - if you like sometimes an unusual dish served with some humor and melancholy - if not, well, I take any bet you wasted your time on far worse movies.

I read only negative critics about this movie and I don't confirm that. I found it very interesting. I was even often laughing where everybody in the cinema around me were silent!! I have to admit that I had big questions after watching it but this is usual for the most movies of Wim Wenders. Anyway he is the director from whom I watched the biggest number of movies. Some crazy people (in a way or another) live in the Million Dollar Hotel where everything took place. At the end I was asking myself whether they were crazy at all. I even felt that inhabitants of this hotel are an allegory on the whole crazy world! Or maybe they were sane and the others were insane!! There was certainly a critic about many aspects of the life in USA. It is for instance certainly not a coincidence that a personality in this happens to be a big Jewish media boss who manipulates the FBI and the Media in the way he wants!! Why was the FBI agent a half cripple? The were many other questions. One thing is sure, and that is that I was not bored at all. The photography was great as expected from W. Wenders. The music is also very nice and U2 (or Bono) put a lot of their (his) talent inside it. I surely should not forget the actors. They acted all very good and in a persuasive manner. Anyhow I expect that many people wouldn't like. It doesn't have the typical kind of stories that are generally common and beloved by the most of the public but it is right variety for me.

The Million Dollar Hotel is quite literally, one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen that features a two time oscar winner such as Mel Gibson. Gibson plays a beyond straight arrow of an FBI agent named Skinner, sent to investigate the mysterious suicide of a millionaire's son (an unbilled Tim Roth) in a seedy hotel that is host to a group of the poor mentally ill. Tom Tom (Jeremy Davies, eschewing Private Upham completely from "Saving Private Ryan), is a half wit delivery boy for the hotel with odd hair who's got a thing for a screw up (Milla Jovovich). Skinner performs a drastic investigation on the hotel who's inhabitants include the Fifth Beatle (a convincing Peter Stormare playing a good guy), an Indian (LA Law's Jimmy Smits!), an old lady (Gloria Stuart, far from her Titanic role), Harold, oops! I mean Bud Cort as a recurring alcoholic, a weirdo (Amanda Plummer, in another fine character role), and others. Definitely an eccentric film that is far from Hollywood. Gibson is quite, to describe it lightly, strange as an FBI agent not to be trifled with. His face alone is that of something that's out of a Stephen King novel. Jeremy Davies seems as if he's had way too many No Doz pills to fulfill the lead role, one that requires him to barely speak. Filled with small roles from recognizable character actors, this is a film that's for an acquired taste, because this is very out there for a movie.

I avoided this film, because of the bad criticism it got in the newspapers. But then I decided to see it at a low price cinema. And I thought, it wasn't all that bad as the critics said. I admit that one has to be in the right mood for this film, and I might alter my judgment, if I saw it a second time. But this time, I enjoyed the way it showed me how colorful life can be, even if it is a difficult and not generally admired one. Each well played character has a different story to tell, and one has to think a little about them. In the end, I took a lot of positive thoughts home. But you have to let yourself go, otherwise you will be disappointed.