Niagara Motel

This is the story of various characters in and around a seedy motel and a diner in Niagara Falls. Married suburban couple Henry and Lily sign into the motel. R.J. and Denise are desperately waiting for a phone call. Michael is recruiting waitress Loretta to dance in Japan. The various stories need to all connect in the last act. The scattered nature of the movie leaves it less than compelling. There is one semi-funny scene during the porn shoot. Otherwise, it's an odd little film but not much more.

Less shabby-chic, more chic-hole, the eponymous motel is home to an assortment of losers drawn to Niagara for anything but the view.

Permanently drunk hotel manager Phillie (Craig Ferguson. Annoying.) uses whiskey to hide the pain of losing his wife. Recovering addict Denise (Anna Friel in a very impressively layered performance) wants her baby back. A middle-aged couple argue a bit. Groundbreaking, I'm sure.

Well-worn as the story may be, it is rescued by some delightful performances. Friel is a revelation, but it's Canadian beauty Dhavernas who really shines as a naïve waitress on the verge of becoming a low-budget 'adult star'.

Never quite as 'darkly comic' or 'genuinely tragic' as it thinks it is, Niagara Motel is the film Todd Solondz would make had he been more popular at school.

If you are in the mood for a little black comedy, then this is the right film to watch. It's about the people who is currently living in this motel. The film interweaves between the main 3 storyline(a Waitress's entering to sexy film, a couple trying to get their child back & a husband looking for a new life) & the happenstance in between it.

It's definitely entertaining & with a good pace/flow; except for 3-4 seconds the Niagara Falls cut-in scenes, the falls was just too loud. It is Not too artsy nor horribly dark that you just feel sorry for them. It's better than the average film & lives up to the trailer; so if you like the trailer, then check it out.

"Niagara Motel" is a hard film to categorize. Its tone fluctuates wildly. Most of the characters have serious problems that for the most part are played straight and seriously but there are some scenes that suddenly turn to flaming black comedy. If you need characters to care about in a movie, they are a bit in short supply here, but there are exceptions. Caroline Dhavernas, in the role of an apparently squeaky clean waitress who is, surprisingly, considering joining the "adult entertainment" industry, is a joy to watch whenever she is on screen. British Actress Anna Friel brings some much needed feistiness to her role as a recovering young drug addict trying to get her child back from a bureaucratic Children's Aide social worker. And Wendy Crewson brings flashes of warmth when her character discovers the hooker next door is both more interesting and nicer than she had imagined.

I saw the movie on DVD. Be sure to watch the audio-commentary version and the other various features of the actors and director talking about the various characters after you've watched the main feature (only 88 minutes long). Clearly all the actors really loved their characters. I felt much better about the movie after I learned how the actual scenes developed in process.

Amusingly, the city of Niagara Falls (Canada) thought that the movie focused so much on the seediest aspects of the city that they refused to cooperate in its filming. So, the few outdoor scenes that were actually shot in Niagara Falls were shot surreptitiously from the back of a van.

Worth watching on DVD with all the extra features. "