Across the Hall

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.

In this film, a young woman keeps an affair in a decadent hotel when her betrayed partner comes up unexpectedly, willing to catch and kill both. However, he doesn't know the lover is his own best friend, whom he's speaking through the cell phone. OK... nothing new here. We've seen similar plots in many films, be they major or minor plots. What this film does to make it look fresh is disarticulate the narrative, in the best Tarantino style. However, this feature isn't enough to do so, nor such a basic plot is enough to justify a film lasting more than an hour. The pace is slow as honey in the summer and worse, all story is highly predictable. In the other hand, it has a good soundtrack, an interesting cinematography, very misty and mysterious, and excellent sets. I really felt the decadence of that hotel and the neglect of most of the staff. The ending isn't necessarily surprising but it's served with elegance. Most of the cast are third-rate names ​​who don't make more than would be required. The highlight goes to Brittany Murphy, the most talented and capable actress here. Being a very low budget film, the final product is higher than my expectations, even though it's far from being a great movie.

The unbalanced Terry (Danny Pino) calls his best friend Julian (Mike Vogel) that is having a bath telling that his beloved fiancée June (Brittany Murphy) is cheating him. Terry has followed her to the decadent Riverview Hotel, where she checked in to meet her lover in room 507. Terry explains to Julian that he brought a revolver to shoot her lover and is waiting for him in room 508, but his friend asks him to be calm that he will meet Terry in the hotel. Surprisingly Julian leaves the bathroom and explains the situation to June in the room in the beginning of a tense and dramatic night.

"Across the Hall" is a dark slow paced thriller in the style of film- noir developed through a non-linear screenplay with many flashbacks. My only remark is the 88 minutes running time that could be a little shorter; anyway the pace magnifies the dramatic situation of the characters. I have really felt sad seeing the last work of the talented and gorgeous Brittany Murphy, who died so young. The music score is another plus in this good film that is neither a masterpiece nor an awful flick as indicated in some reviews but a decent low-budget movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Correndo Contra o Tempo" ("Running Against Time")

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.

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.