La Habitación del Frente

Have to agree with several others that this is not a movie for the fast paced movie goer. This is a slow suspenseful film along the like of an Alfred Hitchcock film. There is a great plot twist that while somewhat obvious is still enjoyable. The characters are believable and the acting is well thought. Brittany Murphy...cute, but luckily doesn't really have enough lines to spoil the film. =) If you like simple films with a minimal amount of frills and just a simple storyline then you may really enjoy Across the hall. This is a great way to spend your time. No sex, no nudity, just a great film for those with the time to appreciate it.

One of those films, where the least said about the plot the better, so in an attempt to refrain from giving any spoilers I boil it down to one sentence. Julian (Mike Vogel) attempts to stop his best friend Terry (Danny Pino) from any making any rash choices after he follows his fiancée June (Brittany Murphy) rent a room at the River View hotel.

Given the low IMDb ratings I didn't really expect much from this below-the-radar thriller. The movie itself is heavily influenced by two great directors. One of them is Alfred Hitchcock. The attempt at replicating the style of 50s and 60s thrillers is visibly apparent not only in the cinematographic style ripe with noir overhead shots, neons, stylisations and a need to push the suspense and tension ahead of action and cheap thrills. The whole movie itself if an old-fashioned hotel with a outdated bell-boy playing a key part in the build-up and story. Overflowing with a retro feel it becomes a stylish homage aimed at those who miss the good old days.

On the other hand you can see the strong impact that Christopher Nolan has in updating the thriller genre and fully using the superior technical capabilities of modern film art to increase the mystery, growing tension and keep tabs on the plot. The whole story is expertly told in a non-linear fashion, where scenes from the past and present intermingle forcing you to logically put the pieces together (in a well-done mix-up of Innaritu storytelling and "Memento" type editing). Directed with swagger debutant Alex Merkin shows a lot of confidence and immense promise with the use of tools at his disposal.

That said the movie does seem a tad overlong and given this was based on Merkin's short film it seems he essentially should have met somewhere in between at around 60-70 minutes. The movie tends to drag on incredibly as the script is pulled out in order to somehow reach a proper running time. The suspension drastically drops, although manages to get back on track with the final resolute bang of an ending. Basically a poster movie for the need to be able to be a bit shorter than the standard 90-120 minutes of the Hollywood 'full length feature'.

Honestly the script itself is in the most part wildly predictable, as the movie is mostly pushed ahead thanks to its style, while not putting enough pressure on the story itself. The mismatch of the mediocre story and the overstretched plot almost derails the meticulous set-designed and claustrophobic noir feel to the movie.

Acting creds are generally fine with Brad Greenquist as the Porter giving the best performance of the lot. All in all worth a watch and I could see Merkin making a name for himself given a script with actually can fill-up the required runtime.

I have read many complaints on how this is "boring" and the scenes are dragged out. I can see how many people are not used to intelligent movies (no offense intended) due to the constant action and cheap scares released in theaters these days. THIS is a movie that deserves a theater release. A very intelligent thriller, with a superb cast that tells a very dark story. The 3 main actors, especially Brittany Murphy, really did an excellent job. The story is told in a flashback/memento way and is executed perfectly. I felt all the flashbacks were correctly positioned and the conclusion might not blow you away- but it's pretty damn good. There are numerous twists and turns but the final twist is jaw-dropping. I want more thrillers like this! 10/10

Okay being 100% truthful, I expected nothing of Brittany Murphy... I do not dislike her, in fact I rather enjoy her but her roles are often up in the air... NOT HERE. She was good where it mattered here and all characters were believable. Yes, clearly it was a film noir Type horror, some people missed that but seriously, if you wanted a cheesy comedy or perhaps some more unrealistic plot twist a cringe scenes or a fake horror movie with vibrant with colors, perhaps you should've went for Saw or Scary movie. Bottom line it was well made and very suspenseful. Less predictable then the usual horror film. I gave it an 8 in consideration to the category this falls under, A film Noir type Thriller. Tasteful in my opinion, it will seem slow if you are looking for action but if you want deep, suspenseful, well written horror and you have 1 hour and 30 min... Go for it... maybe not on a first date but still worth the watch.

Fun Fact(lol): In any case, well done and for those who missed it, this was a ReMake of a 2005 short film (for those who wanted a shorter version your wish came true). Then got funded and made a full length version (The original June came back as Anna).

An interesting story, though a little predictable.

The suspense was upheld throughout the movie, and there was real tension in many scenes, accomplished through a nerve-wracking score and drawn-out scenes that got my teeth grinding.

I immensely enjoyed the cinematography and effects .. it created a dark and brooding atmosphere that had me mourning the conclusion before it came about.

The acting was fairly good, no real complaints. I especially enjoyed the hotel concierge character, who added an old-school feel to the film.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the movie, although I found the story to be almost too simple for its length; it felt like a short story stretched to fit a feature length film.