I'm gonna come out and say this, Tim Roth should totally be a comedic actor.
no slam against his acting but if you've seen this film then you'd understand. Well lets see what happens when the Cinema Shootout sets its sights on the 1995 comedy Four Rooms
WARNING THE Following Film that is being reviewed is Rated R for mature audiences only. Be Warned and if you wish continue after the break.
The comedy movie, has four directors Allison Anders (Mi Vida Loca), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk til Dawn) and Alexandre Rockwell (In the Soup)...now in most films that would be a sign of a bad film but in this case you have four of the best Independent filmmakers at the time create a four act comedy starring some of the largest names at the time. Bruce Willis, Quentin Tarantino, Antonio Banderas, Madonna, Kathy Griffin and as stated earlier the surprisingly funny Tim Roth.
Tim Roth plays what is essentially our main character, Ted the new bellhop who has to deal with several oddly comedic happenings in the titular 4 rooms on New Year's Eve. Each of the four titular rooms are directed by one of the aforementioned directors and thus each room can be treated as their own individual short film and thus it is how this film shall be reviewed.
The first room, The Honeymoon Suite- The Missing Ingredient, directed by Allison Anders creates a wonderfully lively story of a group of witches attempting to release a former resident of the room from a curse. Enters in our bumbling hero Ted, Madonna plays the head witch in a delightfully over top and fun performance. The direction of it is very classical with the characters make grand movements and clever costuming that conveys a complete character with only a single scene. The use of several cartoon sound effects and gags turn the film in a classic Warner Bro shtick with a mature audience in mind. Roth's reaction based comedy conveys the over the top levels of awkwardness and hilarity that are heavily inspired by classical cartoons.
The second room., Room 404- The Wrong Man, directed by Alexandre Rockwell. Deals with our Bellhop getting roped (quite literally) in to an elaborate role-playing situation between a couple after making a mistake visit to their room. The couple are in a situation where the husband (David Poval) is holding his wife (Jennifer Beals) and her 'lover' (Ted the bellhop) hostage after discovering their 'affair'. The direction is top notch. We are almost either a third player or directly in Ted's shoes as we are just as confused, bewildered and frustrated by the bizarre game, but as an audience we can watch as Ted goes through all the feelings we would have, had we been in the same situation. Poval and Beals are good in the scene but as characters they don't really stand out. The piece is pure routine, something that if done right could be played by any actor, but that isn't a dig against the actors but more of a praise for the writer and their great sense of comedy and pacing. But massive amount of kudos need to go to the camera man. This one segment has some of the most amazing camera angles I've seen in recent history, I recommend this part solely on that.
The third room, Room 309- The Misbehavers, directed by Robert Rodriguez, is easily the best of the whole film. The set up is that a father (Antonio Banderas) and wife (Tamlyn Tomita) pay Ted to watch over their two children, the titular misbehavers, while they attend a New Year's Eve party...Hilarity Ensues. I don't want to give any spoilers but trust me that this is easily the highlight of the picture. Rodriguez shows that he has an eye for comedy and children (cept when it comes to Spy Kids), as each scene works perfectly and builds upon the main punchline. Tim's comedic genius is also on full display as he works as both the straight man but also gets more and more involved with the jokes themselves. But Antonio Banderas steals the scene(maybe the whole movie) as the coolest father ever. He evokes mannilest with each word and posturing. You can obviously tell that he and whole cast had fun on this one and as such we come along for the ride. Not much to say than if you see any part of the movie, its has to be this part.
The last room, Penthouse-The Man From Hollywood, directed by Quentin Tarantino (who starts as the titular man), will probably vie for best part of the movie with Room 309 and its obvious from the start. As known to most movie fans Tarantino is a master of dialogue which is what primarily sets this outing apart. Each of the other rooms in one way or another had a major comedic set piece to laugh at, but Tarantino instead slow builds up to the only thing that really happens in the scene with some of the most skillfully written and spoken dialogue ever. The set up is as follows, Ted is invited up to the penthouse by director Chester Rush (Tarantino) to take part in an homage/recreation of the Alfed Hitchcock Presents Episode "The Man of the South", if you know what that is then you'll appreciate the scene even more. The camera work once more is awesome, no cuts just a long continuous shot that turns and follows the action effectively breaching the fourthwall and bringing us fully into the situation. Easily the second most solid room in the whole series and defiantly a great capstone for the film.
And that's Four Rooms. What more can I say. Each part of the film be it actor, writer, director and camera man all brought their A games and each was pitch perfect. Each room carried its own style and grace that made them memorable and allowed the film to carry on with out becoming boring. Tim Roth shows that his career as comedian would have been amazing if he followed that path, not saying his drama isn't good. Overall I give Four Rooms a 5 out 5 see it and I'll see you in Brighter Days!
no slam against his acting but if you've seen this film then you'd understand. Well lets see what happens when the Cinema Shootout sets its sights on the 1995 comedy Four Rooms
WARNING THE Following Film that is being reviewed is Rated R for mature audiences only. Be Warned and if you wish continue after the break.
The comedy movie, has four directors Allison Anders (Mi Vida Loca), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk til Dawn) and Alexandre Rockwell (In the Soup)...now in most films that would be a sign of a bad film but in this case you have four of the best Independent filmmakers at the time create a four act comedy starring some of the largest names at the time. Bruce Willis, Quentin Tarantino, Antonio Banderas, Madonna, Kathy Griffin and as stated earlier the surprisingly funny Tim Roth.
Tim Roth plays what is essentially our main character, Ted the new bellhop who has to deal with several oddly comedic happenings in the titular 4 rooms on New Year's Eve. Each of the four titular rooms are directed by one of the aforementioned directors and thus each room can be treated as their own individual short film and thus it is how this film shall be reviewed.
The first room, The Honeymoon Suite- The Missing Ingredient, directed by Allison Anders creates a wonderfully lively story of a group of witches attempting to release a former resident of the room from a curse. Enters in our bumbling hero Ted, Madonna plays the head witch in a delightfully over top and fun performance. The direction of it is very classical with the characters make grand movements and clever costuming that conveys a complete character with only a single scene. The use of several cartoon sound effects and gags turn the film in a classic Warner Bro shtick with a mature audience in mind. Roth's reaction based comedy conveys the over the top levels of awkwardness and hilarity that are heavily inspired by classical cartoons.
The second room., Room 404- The Wrong Man, directed by Alexandre Rockwell. Deals with our Bellhop getting roped (quite literally) in to an elaborate role-playing situation between a couple after making a mistake visit to their room. The couple are in a situation where the husband (David Poval) is holding his wife (Jennifer Beals) and her 'lover' (Ted the bellhop) hostage after discovering their 'affair'. The direction is top notch. We are almost either a third player or directly in Ted's shoes as we are just as confused, bewildered and frustrated by the bizarre game, but as an audience we can watch as Ted goes through all the feelings we would have, had we been in the same situation. Poval and Beals are good in the scene but as characters they don't really stand out. The piece is pure routine, something that if done right could be played by any actor, but that isn't a dig against the actors but more of a praise for the writer and their great sense of comedy and pacing. But massive amount of kudos need to go to the camera man. This one segment has some of the most amazing camera angles I've seen in recent history, I recommend this part solely on that.
The third room, Room 309- The Misbehavers, directed by Robert Rodriguez, is easily the best of the whole film. The set up is that a father (Antonio Banderas) and wife (Tamlyn Tomita) pay Ted to watch over their two children, the titular misbehavers, while they attend a New Year's Eve party...Hilarity Ensues. I don't want to give any spoilers but trust me that this is easily the highlight of the picture. Rodriguez shows that he has an eye for comedy and children (cept when it comes to Spy Kids), as each scene works perfectly and builds upon the main punchline. Tim's comedic genius is also on full display as he works as both the straight man but also gets more and more involved with the jokes themselves. But Antonio Banderas steals the scene(maybe the whole movie) as the coolest father ever. He evokes mannilest with each word and posturing. You can obviously tell that he and whole cast had fun on this one and as such we come along for the ride. Not much to say than if you see any part of the movie, its has to be this part.
The last room, Penthouse-The Man From Hollywood, directed by Quentin Tarantino (who starts as the titular man), will probably vie for best part of the movie with Room 309 and its obvious from the start. As known to most movie fans Tarantino is a master of dialogue which is what primarily sets this outing apart. Each of the other rooms in one way or another had a major comedic set piece to laugh at, but Tarantino instead slow builds up to the only thing that really happens in the scene with some of the most skillfully written and spoken dialogue ever. The set up is as follows, Ted is invited up to the penthouse by director Chester Rush (Tarantino) to take part in an homage/recreation of the Alfed Hitchcock Presents Episode "The Man of the South", if you know what that is then you'll appreciate the scene even more. The camera work once more is awesome, no cuts just a long continuous shot that turns and follows the action effectively breaching the fourthwall and bringing us fully into the situation. Easily the second most solid room in the whole series and defiantly a great capstone for the film.
And that's Four Rooms. What more can I say. Each part of the film be it actor, writer, director and camera man all brought their A games and each was pitch perfect. Each room carried its own style and grace that made them memorable and allowed the film to carry on with out becoming boring. Tim Roth shows that his career as comedian would have been amazing if he followed that path, not saying his drama isn't good. Overall I give Four Rooms a 5 out 5 see it and I'll see you in Brighter Days!
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