The Million Dollar Hotel

Beautiful journey into the souls of madmen
There's been a lot of debating over whether or not this film deserves its Berlin Silver Bear award. In my mind it deserves more than that, for this is truly a remarkable film.

The Million Dollar Hotel is a home for outcasts and mentally unstable people. Once it was probably a high-class place, but time has taken its toll and it is now merely a parody of itself. Inhabitants include a mad Indian Chief wannabe (played by Jimmy Smits), a guy who thinks he's a member of the Beatles (hilariously played by Peter Stormare) the retarded "hero" of the story Tom Tom (Jeremy Davies) and the shadowy, silent Elouise (Milla Jovovich) who he has a serious crush on. One day Tom Tom's nearest friend fall off the roof of the hotel, and foul play is suspected. It is then up to an FBI Special Agent (Mel Gibson) to find the murderer. This is no easy task indeed!

What sets this movie apart from the mainstream is that it oozes atmosphere and that is dares to be *different*. Director Wim...

The Million Dollar Hotel
This is a wonderful movie, made with love. The score is haunting and and sweet, yet not obtrusive. The colors and the photography are stunningly beautiful. This is not a thriller; rather, it is a love story played against a background of cynicism, delusion, betrayal, fraud and brutality. This film demands the viewer's undivided attention, as much is going on in the background of almost every scene. This film is also an ode to a hotel in Los Angeles, one of two built in the 1920s by two brothers. One would not think such a tribute could be paid to an old hotel, but "The Million Dollar Hotel" is just that, as the varying and lovely shots of the hotel bear witness throughout the film. Mel Gibson delivers his best performance to date as the brutal, threatening FBI agent Skinner, who has a change-of-heart. Jeremy Davies is incredibly winning as Tom-Tom, the border-retarded unofficial "butler," full of wisdom, humor and insight, for the hotel's residents. Milla...

intriguingly wonderful
million dollar hotel is one of those films that seem to grab you by the senses and make you fall in love with people who live in a sort of loonie bin.

million dollar hotel is a film about an old dilapidated hotel whose residents are mentally unstable. they find themselves in a bind when they find out one of them has been murdered but no one knows who did it.

tom tom(jeremy davies) is a character you instantly feel for from his the first scene when he jumps off the building in spectacular fashion and says, "after i jumped, i realized...life is the best." in some respects, you almost envy him for realizing this, but pity him at the same time for finding this out too late.

milla jovovich has an equally curious role. she plays a strung out woman who finds herself reading romance novels all day at a used bookstore and prostitutes herself at night. jovovich plays almost the same role as davies, but at the same time, much different. it's no wonder he finds himself...

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