Tenderloin

I rented Tenderloin the other night and thought it was a good movie.

Common themes of a man returning to civilian life after being in the army, dealing with an ex-spouse, trying to build a relationship with his young son while the ex-wife wants to move across country and dealing with a dying father who was physically and mentally abusive were all played out in the background of the Hotel Boyd, a residential hotel in San Francisco's seedy Tenderloin area. The lead character is hired to manage the Hotel Boyd.

The characters who inhabit the Hotel Boyd include a feisty senior who does not want to move to Scottsadle to, "watch cactus until I die", a transvestite, two Vietnam War Veterans and an Asian street level prostitute and small time drug dealer. All of these characters are easily found in any city's skid row. The themes and characters are universal.

What detracts from the movie is its ending. A good 80 minute effort.