Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

RainDogJr I saw The Darjeeling Limited on the big screen (during the 49 Muestra International de Cine back in 2007) and certainly I saw this short film, now that I added to my collection the DVD of the film I saw Hotel Chevalier for the second time. In The Darjeeling Limited the great Bill Murray has a very little appearance, is a great very first scene of the film with Murray but there's nothing that will connect Murray's character with our three main characters that are played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman (just that he tried to take the train that our main characters took). Natalie Portman appears less than Murray in Wes Anderson's latest film to date (his next project, Fantastic Mr. Fox, is going to be released on 6 November 2009 in the US), actually she only appears in one sequence for some seconds, she has no dialog, during the whole film, during the time in India she is not present, but only physically. Here there's nothing very clear, well the reasons are certainly not clear but of cure the actions upon those things that happened are more than clear. Jason Schwartzman is great as Jack Whitman but well I guess those complements would be better in my comment for the feature film. Here is all quite strange once Portman's character arrives to the hotel Chevalier, "what the f*** is going on?" she asks, and the song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" (completely unknown by me until I saw this short film, now I carry the soundtrack of The Darjeeling Limited in my iPod) stops just before the first kiss after at least more than a month happens. 10 out of 10

richard_sleboe Designed as a semi-independent prelude to "The Darjeeling Limited", "Hotel Chevalier" proves that ten minutes of Wes Anderson's wizardry are worth more than many another big-budget director's feature-length film. It's a study in the pain and the lust only love can bring, as well as a variation of Anderson's trademark motif, control. Where "The Darjeeling Limited" bubbles over with substance abuse, poisonous snakes, restroom romps, brotherly affection and fatal accidents, "Hotel Chevalier" is a quiet and slightly eerie two-character mini drama set in a lavish Merchant-Ivory style suite. The suite's sole resident is a reclusive control-freak writer in a long-distance relationship (Jason Schwartzman). We watch as he half enjoys, half endures a surprise visit by his control-freak girlfriend (Natalie Portman). Is she a woman of flesh and blood, or is she just an imaginary incarnation of the jet-setting girl from "Where do you go to my lovely", the song Peter keeps playing on his portable stereo? There's no knowing what's real and what isn't in Anderson's paper moon world. But the importance of fact and fiction fades as she reclines on the bed and has Peter take off her spike-heeled boots. It's the most emotionally and sexually loaded scene I have seen in a long time, like a 20-second tango. It seems some of Natalie Portman's best work is done in shorts set in Paris. Remember Tom Tykwer's "True"?

arthurmauk Good question.I haven't been so confused since watching Mulholland Dr. (which by the way is an excellent movie, unlike this one). Are we really supposed to take Jason Schwartzman seriously with that comical American-French accent (see: 14ème Arrondissement in Paris, je t'aime) and the stupid thick moustache? Natalie Portman fares no better, unconvincing as a seductive vamp with a tomboyish haircut. Both actors are too young and horribly miscast here.The dialogue is awkward beyond belief and makes no sense whatsoever. I don't understand how anyone can praise this short film since it offers pretentious "mysteries" yet explains nothing to satisfy our reluctant suspense. Until The Darjeeling Limited is released one can't really say it's good at all except stylistically. I suppose if Anderson's intention was to create hype then fine, he did his job, I will watch The Darjeeling Limited just out of curiosity to see whether he will redeem himself.The background music is far too loud and distracting. Now is that more arty-farty symbolism, an homage to Paul Thomas Anderson or did Wes just forget to turn the sound down on his PC whilst editing? I know the exaggerated use of yellow was an intentional decision he made, but it turned out that he made a bad decision. The one shot that was beautiful and near perfect was the memorable balcony scene, in which the colours really does take your breath away. Promising, shame about the other 12 minutes.Oh, and for the overzealous horny fanboys (for which I am one), Ms. Portman does not go nude for this film. Disappointing and unsatisfying, perhaps that's why I feel so bitter and cheated. Ah well.

stephentheh One of the things i've always liked about Wes Anderson is how well he can subtly imply certain characteristics or histories in a dry sort of humor. This film accomplishes that in a more pronounced scale than a longer film might have.Jason Schwartzman is great, perhaps the stronger of the two performances, although Natalie Portman is not to be dismissed here.Without giving anything away, the film accomplishes its goal of setting a mood and not forcing itself to tell the entire history - something too many other directors might have tried in a 13 minute time span and thus sacrificed most if not all of the actual feeling behind the couple's reunion.I rate this a ten out of ten - a great short, and even though i'm a big fan of Wes Anderson's, i'm glad he didn't over-stylize it. It's simplistic, humorous, and yet bitter-sweet and thoroughly enjoyable.