El Cortez

Neither really a thriller, or mystery, nor clever enough in its plot, twists, or script El Cortez is a pleasant enough diversion but lacks any real distinction.

The plot is nothing you haven't seen before, the characters are OK, but really below par. The fault may lie with Lou Diamond Philips. He is not a character actor in the mould of Edward Norton and the way he plays Manny is too off-balance for the material. The fact that he plays the ex-com hotel desk clerk like Edward Norton would have just doesn't ring true somehow.

The rest of the cast are good, especially James McDaniel as the cop, but the material is somehow flat. The real fault lies in the way it is shot: too light, and bright. I would have liked the lighting and shooting to have been less TV movie mode and more film noir: more shadows, and less claustrophobic. I felt Stephen Purvis wanted it to be a small tale, which is right, but would have liked to have built more atmosphere. A soundtrack would have helped enormously.

There is nothing spectacularly wrong with El Cortez it just is what it is: a small theatrical thriller that would work well as a stage piece and fails to translate its convictions and menace to film.

Overall, worth watching if you like the genre, but don't expect too much.

Pretty good actors; pretty good acting; TERRIBLE writing, and a story that is incredibly improbable (make that ludicrously impossible).

What? We were supposed to believe that all these characters just HAPPENED to be in the same place at the same time, and acted so implausibly? There's more logic in a David Lynch movie! And what's with the moral values? It's OK to kill people serially (multiple bodies in the mine, not to mention the cop and the drug dealer) to perpetrate a scam repeatedly -- because the dead people may be crooks, too? "Oh well, as long as EVERYBODY gets hurt." This was a truly bad movie (even though with actors I like -- shame on you Bruce and Lou or Diamond, or Lou Diamond, or whatever you go by!).

This movie is one of the best I've seen in a long time. The actors all do an excellent job with their characters and the chemistry is definitely there throughout each scene. The setting in Reno is perfect for the whole show of all these character's messed up existences that intertwine so intricately. My only real complaint was that there wasn't really a clear picture of who Manny was before he got to the El Cortez, only a few well placed flashbacks, which left me with questions. I suppose that information was not particularly relevant to the situation that elicited the flashback, so it's no big deal. Through the years I have seen many good movies and read lots of great fiction. This movie is fast paced like so many of its big budget brethren, but unlike many of those big budget films that fall apart at the end, El Cortez keeps you on edge right to the end, like a good page turner novel would. You know the kind, the ones you read through the night to find out what happens at the end. Don't miss this one.

Greetings again from the darkness. Very interesting screenplay from Chris Haddock suffers a bit from the over-direction of Stephen Purvis. The best parts of this noir sting flick include Lou Diamond Phillips evolving from the drug-neutered autistic hotel clerk (with a violent past) to a much different man by film end. The weakest segments involve heavy-handed over-dramatic moments with much hysteria and theatrics.

While James McDaniel (Lt. Fancy from "NYPD Blue) gets coached into an over-the-top performance as the bad cop, Bruce Weitz (excellent in "Hill Street Blues") joins him chewing the scenes as the paraplegic owner of a supposed fertile gold mine. Strangely Glenn Plummer is much milder in his portrayal of a drug dealer that probably should have been jazzed up a bit. Next to Mr. Phillips, the best performance in the film belongs to Tracy Middendorf as the beautiful, yet not so trustworthy object of multiple affections.

According to director Purvis, filming in Reno was quite painful, but it works very well as the setting. The hotel El Cortez is perfect with its old timey look and feel and, in the end, the Cortez name has a dual role. Definitely worth seeing for the story and Phillips' performance, but disappointing in that it could have been much more.

To like a film like this, you have to like two things: Lou Diamond Phillips, and noir. This interesting piece of neo noir is very satisfying for those who like to watch something unfold slowly and try to figure out who is conning who.

Manny (Lou Diamond Phillips, whom I have liked since La Bamba), is a slow, maybe Autistic, desk clerk in a sleazy hotel. He has just been released from an institution for the criminally insane for a murder he committed. He seems to be getting along well on his medication and appears to be a happy joe.

Then all kinds of people start coming into his life: Popcorn (Bruce Weitz) with his gold mine, Jack (Glenn Plummer) the junkie with a hot girlfriend (Tracy Middendorf), and a cop (James McDaniel) who is making life tough for him.

Who among this strange collection is conning whom. What is everyone's motivation? Who is aligned with whom? These are questions that get answered slowly as Manny is drawn into this nightmare.

You have to figure that Manny will manage to come out OK, he just has to. But, will he? And, who will be there with him? Ah, it was satisfying unraveling this puzzle, which kept you guessing until the end.