slayerholmes

It's War Tribunal in Poland after WW2 - which means the film is staggeringly ahead itself to say the least: a Nazi officer is rightly getting a death penalty, through the testimony of his former lover (Marsha Hunt), priest (Henry Travers) and his own leftist brother (Erik Rolf)...

A superb film by all accounts, and my kindest regards to Mrs Hunt - still alive at 104.

It's the last year of one of the most tumultuous decade ever, the 60's. A remote and vacant motel which resides literally in the middle of California/Nevada border gets one day four guests at once: cocky salesman (Jon Hamm), black songstress (Cynthia Erivo), aged priest (Jeff Bridges) and tense young woman (Dakota Johnson). They all have dark secrets and ghosts from the past in their minds, and even young motel clerk (Lewis Pullman) makes no exception...

Better-than-average "Tarantino" -copycat with its surprising twists and characteristics of the period in question, made especially clear by almost constant playing of brilliant rock/soul hits from that golden age. Acting is by and large satisfactory at least and what comes to violence it's as ruthless and pitiless as to meet anyone's expectations.

But just as surely BTATER shuns away from a 'masterpiece' status right from the get-go with its ridiculous premise: why this particular group of people exactly at the same time? There's problem with some characterizations also, Pullman's and Erivo's eminently: the former being psychologically too unbelievable, and latter mandatorily made once again to this one and only "good person" of the whole bunch just because the actor is black (female).

Still, what comes to that mysterious and politically/nationally most sensitive film reel, I think from the three choices the only one who's reputation even the governing elite might find necessary to protect posthumously could be none other than Martin Luther King.