Century Hotel

I got this film on the strength of one actress that I like... Lindy Booth. Her performance in Century Hotel seems a little below par, but it was adequate.

The film doesn't seem to go anyway in the first hour, but then it unfolds nicely after that. Which is unfortunate since the film is only about 90 minutes long.

The Cantonese pronunciations were absolutely crap. I didn't they just stick to using imitation bad English (Canadian) accents instead of getting the actors to speak very poor Cantonese? Or perhaps they should have rewritten that part of the script. Sorry, it's a nitpick, but I believe films are an art form and, as such, should be given more TLC than Century Hotel was given.

I did like the little "twist" regarding the soldier guy who was soon to be married to his sweetheart who he hadn't seen for a long time. Watch the film and you'll find out!

All in all, this wasn't a bad film. But they could've done so much more with it. 6/10 is a fair indication of its entertainment value.

A young woman (Lindy Booth) lodges in the room 720 of the Century Hotel and the old bellboy tells that that room has several stories. Along the years, an old man marries a young virgin; a whore and her client fall in love with each other; a man is left by his wife and seeks her out in the hotel; a musician and the chambermaid has a weird relationship; two friends from navy have a gay relationship; a Chinese woman comes to America to get married with a powerful Chinese. Some of the relationships have good ending, others have tragic conclusion.

"Century Hotel" is a movie with a good storyline of romances along many decades in a hotel room. However, the screenplay is boring with too long and fragmented with entwined segments. The most attractive plot is certainly the love story of a prostitute performed by the gorgeous Mia Kirshner and her client. Unfortunately the movie does not work well. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

These multiple vignettes all taking place in the same hotel room during the course of the last century are brief and engaging enough to keep you interested, but generally don't come together in any meaningful way. They all make a point, but ultimately only one works in bringing the overall framework of the picture to a satisfactory close. Amateurish writing nicely filmed.

Anyone who reads the back of the movie sleeve will have some idea of what Century Hotel is about. ONE ROOM, SEVEN STORIES, etc. For the most part, every major event in the film takes place in room 720, as if the room (or a ghost who inhabits the room) is telling us each of these tales.

Since all seven stories are being told from the ROOM'S perspective, we can only expect to know what goes on in that room and nothing more. Not all the stories are completely wrapped up in room 720 and we shouldn't expect them to be. Just as we don't see everyone check in, we shouldn't be surprised that we don't see everyone check out.

What Century Hotel provides for viewers are glimpses into different people's lives from different time periods. Each of these stories is about a different form of LOVE and it is interesting to see these sides of love, even if each story only occupies about 15 minutes of film.

To quote the great Roger Ebert, "I prefer to evaluate a film on the basis of what it intends to do, not on what I think it should have done." On this basis, Century Hotel succeeds for what it is: Seven glimpses into different forms of love, complimented with good acting, great cinematography and beyond.

A score of seven might seem a bit high for a "decent" movie, but I so rarely enjoy movies these days that this one deserves it.

Basically, it's seven stories that happen in this one hotel room at different points in the twentieth century. Some of the stories are good, some are only mediocre, but overall it's a nice effect. The distinct atmosphere of each story gives you a good feel for the changing time periods. The transitions take a bit of getting used to at first, but I've seen worse. The ending isn't anything spectacular, but it fits in all right with the rest of the movie.

This is the kind of movie that you can walk away from without feeling that you've wasted an hour and a half of your life. As a rule, I like that in entertainment. It's an interesting film that never slows down so much as to lose your attention. It's not a heavy film by any means; it's even got it's amusing moments. Watch it some evening when you've got nothing better to do.