I had a strange experience in the cinema the other night. I sat down to watch a movie and somehow found myself falling through a wormhole to the mid 90's. A time when Quentin Tarantino rip-offs abounded. You couldn't go anywhere without tripping over one of them. Films full of quirky knowing dialogue and gritty violence perpetrated by an ensemble cast intertwined with plotlines that weren't half as interesting as they thought they were. Bad Times At The El Royale was one of these, a film that made me think it was 1996 all over again. Well until a gobshite in front of me started taking instagram selfies during it.
5 strangers turn up at the El Royale motel. A priest called Flynn, Darlene who's a singer, a vacuum salesman called Laramie and two young women, Emily & Rose. The El Royale is an odd place. Ran by one young fella on his own it's an establishment straddling the border between Nevada and California that's priced differently depending on which state you decide to sleep in. The strangers are an odd bunch too, each secretive about their reasons for being there. It doesn't take long before secrets start to spill and the late arrival of a sixth person brings chaos and darkness.
It's fine. It's fun. Some of it is clever. There's some great music and an excellent opening 5 minutes. There's a fantastic moment combining voyeurism, soul music and hidden secrets in a scene that becomes a microcosm of a turbulent age. It's set in 1969, the end of a momentous decade for America. A time of massive societal change. Each character is a stand in for the cultural touchstones of the time. Vietnam, the changing of the guard, civil rights, "The man", counter culture and the dark side of counter culture. The film builds up to a big climax when all these touchstones clash and it all becomes one big ol' metaphor for the 1960's but it just leaves you with one major feeling of......... "so?"
The whole way through the film you're waiting for the moment that ties everything together and it just never comes. The lightbulb moment that makes you go "OH COOL", that realisation that changes everything that's come before. It's missing that one element that will leave you thinking about it in the weeks and months to come. In 2012 Drew Goddard wrote and directed Cabin In The Woods. A seemingly simple horror picture that come the end had flipped audience expectations brilliantly and presented us with a story that, in a way, had ramifications for the horror genre as a whole. I think I went into this expecting something like that and when it didn't come it felt like a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the ingredients of this film are fun but put together they just don't feel like a satisfying whole.
A game cast helps though. Jeff Bridges as Flynn brings his usual gravitas and gets the most interesting role. Cynthia Erivo and Lewis Pullman as Darlene and the hotel concierge Miles add a touch of humanity to proceedings and help cut through the knowing quirkiness and cleverness. The trailer campaign for the film is based around Chris Hemsworth who plays a smaller role than expected but it's his appearance about 2/3's of the way into the film that finally kicks it in the arse and gets it moving for it's crunchy climax. I've never seen him play this dark before. I liked it. Although It's a pity he appears at a point when most films of this ilk would be finishing. At 140+ minutes it's way too long. Every scene in here is important but some of them are stretched way way beyond breaking point. The slow burn pace especially in the first half of the film will grate on a lot of people. There's a moment seen from different points of view that's superficially cool but serves no purpose other than to pad out the running time. It also adds to that bang of 90's deja vu mentioned earlier which never helps matters.
A fun watch but one that just does not live up to the sum of it's parts.
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