The Motel Life

Dorff is very good, but everyone is really solid.

Not much happening, but Dorff's tales are good. It's sad but captivating.

I became a fan of Stephen Dorff after his role in Sophia Coppola's Somewhere and Emile Hirsch in the great Alpha Dog. Even the smaller roles with Kris Kristofferson and Dakota Fanning are remarkable in this movie. But all the good acting still keeps the flick just a notch above average. Its not so much about life in a motel or all that, but the lives and decisions of two brothers and all the drama that goes with it. Dorff plays an immature amputee who is dependent on Hirsch and does a great job. Man, just watching Dorff complain and cry is almost nerve-racking. The dark, cold, snowy, gloomy scenes make you feel the weather, but I wish there was more to the story line than just good acting and the scenery.

"Don't make decisions thinking your a low life, make decisions thinking your a great man." When Jerry Lee (Dorff) tells his brother Frank (Hirsch) that he has just killed someone and drove away the decide the best thing to do is leave town. Frank tries to juggle finding a job, keeping a girlfriend and keeping his brother hidden and safe. This may be one of the hardest movies I've had to review. This movie isn't terrible and the acting is good, Kris Kristofferson is really great in this, but honestly nothing happens. It's a lot of repetition between the three aspects of Franks life. The best and easiest way to describe this is that the movie really has the feel of Out Of The Furnace. One brother watching out and trying to protect another but very slow moving and really waiting around for something to happen. It seems like I'm being hard on this, the acting is very good and its worth seeing for that but do not expect anything amazing and be prepared for a very long feeling hour and a half. Overall, if you like movies like Out Of The Furnace you will like this. I give this a C+.

A dark depressing film with enough character development to keep you engaged. Well acted and believable, this movie is sad and touching. Well worth watching.

This is a tough film. It's gritty and it feels nostalgic as you watch the scenery in the film because it feels like we have all traveled to places like this before. It's a film about the sadness which harnesses it's energy upon us and sometimes we can never quite shake it. Or perhaps we can shake it.

Raw performances by Stephen Dorff and Emile Hirsch, their best performances to date, in my opinion. If the film could have lobbied its actors maybe even an academy award nomination would have been in the midst for Dorff or Hirsch.

A fine made film about who we are, what we lose and what we try to get back. Sad in all it's humility.