2018’s Bad Times at
the El Royale, written and directed by Drew Goddard.
Starring Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota
Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Nick Offerman, Cailee Spaeny, and Lewis Pullman.
What is it about?
One stormy night during 1969, a handful of disconnected
individuals check into the El Royale hotel. There’s a priest, Father Daniel
Flynn (Jeff Bridges), salesman, Laramie Seymour (Jon Hamm), musician, Darlene
Sweet (Cynthia Arivo), and finally a mysterious foul mouthed woman, Emily Summerspring
(Dakota Johnson). Checked in by odd bellboy, Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman),
nothing is as it seems, and before long cult figures, bank robbers, and government
agents are involved with the hotel and its mysterious interiors. Will anyone be
able to escape with both their wits and bodies intact?
Why is it worth seeing?
Bad Times at the El
Royale is director Drew Goddard’s second film as a director (with gobs of
experience as a writer/producer), after the delightful Cabin in the Woods. There, Goddard took pleasure in subverting the
genre of horror, and here, he subverts a sub-genre- known informally as
Tarantino.
Anybody else remember the mid-90’s when all anybody would do was rip off Quentin Tarantino? With notable exceptions, Hollywood has never been original or that inspired, so as far as photocopying went- at least it was material worth Xeroxing (Tarantino himself is a marvelous rip off artist). Here, Goddard apes Tarantino, with mixed results.
Central to any Tarantino film are great performances, and they are here in spades. Particularly bright, are Jeff Bridges (can anybody not like his dudeness?), and in particular, lesser known actual musician, Cynthia Erivo, who steals the show as the struggling singer with a voice of silk who has the least to hide- but the most to show. With a cast of characters that celebrate nefarious opacity, her positive transparency beams brighter than neon.
Anybody else remember the mid-90’s when all anybody would do was rip off Quentin Tarantino? With notable exceptions, Hollywood has never been original or that inspired, so as far as photocopying went- at least it was material worth Xeroxing (Tarantino himself is a marvelous rip off artist). Here, Goddard apes Tarantino, with mixed results.
Central to any Tarantino film are great performances, and they are here in spades. Particularly bright, are Jeff Bridges (can anybody not like his dudeness?), and in particular, lesser known actual musician, Cynthia Erivo, who steals the show as the struggling singer with a voice of silk who has the least to hide- but the most to show. With a cast of characters that celebrate nefarious opacity, her positive transparency beams brighter than neon.
Another staple, is the needle drops of quirky period music and casual violence,
alongside jumping back and forth in time. With the movie’s 2 hour-plus run time
it requires patience to get to the bottom of all that is- and is not. So what
is it missing to be labeled as dynamic as QT?
For starters, Goddard can’t create the whip smart tension
that QT is so proficient at. The dude may not be able to create quality linear
A to Z chronological films anymore, but he continually creates scenes that can
go down in best scenes of the decade lists because he is just so good at making
conversations about hamburgers as riveting as a dairy farmer trying not to reveal
he is hiding Jews from Nazis, or seeing an emancipated black slave speak to white
people. Goddard is not there (yet).
However, something Goddard does have that QT doesn’t, is heart. Behind the thick web of confusion, subterfuge, and violence, is decency and optimism. Goddard helps us to care for some of these characters, and want the best for them- despite some compromised behaviours (and mission objectives). It’s refreshing- given how cynical QT rip offs and cinematic human behaviour can be in films that involve double crosses.
However, something Goddard does have that QT doesn’t, is heart. Behind the thick web of confusion, subterfuge, and violence, is decency and optimism. Goddard helps us to care for some of these characters, and want the best for them- despite some compromised behaviours (and mission objectives). It’s refreshing- given how cynical QT rip offs and cinematic human behaviour can be in films that involve double crosses.
Possessing some slick camera work and heartfelt characters, BTatER tendencies as a Tarantino knock
off take away from the creative mysteriousness and good vibes otherwise so teasingly
displayed… Or maybe I just need a good foot massage.
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