Nonureva
Really Surprised!
Infamousta
brilliant actors, brilliant editing
Peereddi
I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.
l_rawjalaurence
The initial premise for Alan and Gabriel Polsky's low-budget indie movie is a familiar one. Two brothers - Frank (Emile Hirsch) and Jerry-Lee (Stephen Dorff) make a childhood pact never to be separated. They hole up at a Reno motel, where we discover that Jerry-Lee has killed someone, forcing the brothers to move on to another seedy motel in a remote small town during the depths of winter. The focus centers on the rootlessness of their lives as they try to make the best of unprepossessing circumstances.Several road movie conventions are present in the movie - the use of shots of deserted, often soulless highways; the impersonality of motel rooms with their identikit furniture and cramped living conditions; and the seedy roadside cafés where Frank spends much of his time having snatched conversations with passing acquaintances before buying food for his disabled brother. The two of them have never enjoyed a settled existence; like nomads they move from place to place, making the best of primitive living conditions.What lifts this film above the run-of-the-mill is the emphasis on the brothers' creativity. Jerry-Lee has only one leg, the result of a childhood accident when he fell off a moving train. But this handicap does not prevent him from being a talented artist. His abilities relate directly to one of the film's major themes, realized through Mike Smith's brilliant animation. Frank is a storyteller, weaving fantasies of male heroism and female conquest every night to keep Jerry-Lee amused; these fantasies are portrayed on screen, suggesting that Jerry-Lee is using his god-given talent to create mental images in his imagination. Through this device we learn something of the brothers' potential; despite their humdrum lives, they have stories to tell that can engage our interest just as deeply as those higher up the social scale.Alan and Gabriel Polsky's use of music is striking, not only evoking the mood of each scene but creating a wistful ambiance, making us realize how people often have little or no opportunity to make use of their talents. THE MOTEL LIFE may be a modest movie, but it is certainly compelling.
zif ofoz
Directors Alan & Gabe Polsky have offered up for us (the viewers) a tragic soap opera type story that really works from start to finish. What I mean by 'really works' is that this movie tells a sad and dark story very well.The brothers Frank & Jerry Lee are forced, by circumstance, to face life alone at a dangerously young age. Their survival depends on the two of them always being together and in doing so an unbreakable emotional bond develops between them. Having to face growing up alone in this world the influences and direction in their lives are not too wise and they do not always make the right decision. Thus the two hit the road the evade being implicated in a hit and run accident. They are not criminals and they have feeling of guilt. Frank suffers a disability (leg amputation) and is both physically and emotionally dependent on Jerry. Jerry is devoted to Frank and drinks too much booze.This sad and dark mix make for a disturbing yet captivating story that will keep you interested. Alan & Gabe Polsky show us the human vulnerable and needy side of Frank & Jerry and not a angry and hateful side of these two characters. And I believe that is what makes this movie 'cinema art'.
Tony Heck
"Don't make decisions thinking your a low life, make decisions thinking your a great man." When Jerry Lee (Dorff) tells his brother Frank (Hirsch) that he has just killed someone and drove away the decide the best thing to do is leave town. Frank tries to juggle finding a job, keeping a girlfriend and keeping his brother hidden and safe. This may be one of the hardest movies I've had to review. This movie isn't terrible and the acting is good, Kris Kristofferson is really great in this, but honestly nothing happens. It's a lot of repetition between the three aspects of Franks life. The best and easiest way to describe this is that the movie really has the feel of Out Of The Furnace. One brother watching out and trying to protect another but very slow moving and really waiting around for something to happen. It seems like I'm being hard on this, the acting is very good and its worth seeing for that but do not expect anything amazing and be prepared for a very long feeling hour and a half. Overall, if you like movies like Out Of The Furnace you will like this. I give this a C+.
zombiebird
Well it seems like an interesting indie movie on the surface, but in reality the story just fails to establish itself. All through out you can just never really find yourself caring for the characters or what has happened to them. That of course isn't helped by the fact that the acting is quite very poor in places and the directing too seems somewhat amateurish at times although is reasonably acceptable as a whole. The movie is also cluttered with songs, at times you just go from 1 song onto another which is not only annoying, but, in my opinion also takes away some credibility from what is going on. Not to mention that it is plainly obvious that the numerous use of songs is just a cover to try and pull you into a story that can't hold its own. The end is anti- climatic and utterly unsatisfying, leaving you wondering what exactly this whole story was about anyway and why it just bounced around for so long and never really went anywhere. The illustrated cartoons within the movie however are really good, well animated, well narrated and properly manage to capture the setting of the movie and the characters. So in short, watch this if you feel like watching a cavalier, semi- romanticized movie about impoverished life in midland USA.
