A group of mysterious strangers converge at a hotel that straddles the
California/Nevada border.
Directed by: Drew Goddard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Jeff
Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman
If the title of writer/director Drew Goddard's second feature as
director, Bad Times at the El Royale, evokes memories of all those awful Tarantino knockoffs that plagued
cinemas in the 1990s (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead; Two Days in the Valley; Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag etc), you'll know exactly what
you're in for here. A generic crime plot unspooled through flashbacks and
divided into chapters based around specific characters? Check. A soundtrack
of mid 20th century pop tunes? Check. A running time your bladder won't
thank you for, exacerbated by the writer's love of their own words and their
penchant for lengthy monologues? Check.
The 'El Royale' of the title refers to the movie's uniquely intriguing
setting, a hotel that straddles the border between California and Nevada.
With those two states possessing very different laws, the hotel offers
specific indulgences depending on which side of the border you pick a room
in. You can gamble in the Nevada half, but if you fancy a drink you'll need
to check into the Californian side. The potential for drama such a setting
provides is never actually explored by Goddard however, and the hotel's
unique selling point doesn't play into the narrative in any way. It's
emblematic of a film that consistently fails to deliver on its
potential.
Checking into the hotel are various shady characters, all of whom seem to
be hiding their true identity (Speaking of 'identity',
El Royale's setup owes a lot to the 2003 James Mangold directed thriller that bears
just that title). There's good ol' boy Seymour Sullivan (Jon Hamm), a
travelling vacuum cleaner salesman; Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo), a
struggling soul singer; Father Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a priest
battling senility; and Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson), a sullen
young woman who keeps her face obscured behind giant sunglasses. Checking
the group in is concierge Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman), the nerviest
hotel manager this side of the Bates Motel.
The characters Goddard assembles are such generic archetypes that we're
forced to assume he's pulling the wool over our eyes and that all is not
what it seems with this bunch. Our assumption is quickly affirmed when one
character discovers a secret passage that runs behind the various rooms,
with cameras set up to film through two way mirrors. We've been here before
with Goddard, in his 2012 directorial debut,
The Cabin in the Woods, so we immediately start to suspect there's some sort of wider conspiracy
at play here. Our suspicions lead nowhere however, as after an initially
curious opening act, Bad Times at the El Royale is content to
play out a selection of generic crime subplots that offer nothing new to an
already crowded genre.
Goddard's non-linear storytelling and use of flashbacks goes a long way to
making us mistakenly believe we're watching something a lot cleverer than
his film really is. There's a sense throughout that we're being teased, that
any minute now Goddard is going to pull the rug out from under our
expectations and turn his banal crime genre premise on its head. He never
does, with the story petering out in the most unsatisfying manner, all
foreplay and no climax. Put simply, it's exactly the movie you expect.
While it's largely an overwritten and underwhelming slog,
El Royale does boast one subplot that enlivens the drama every
time it takes centre stage. It involves a developing and endearing
relationship between Bridge's priest and Erivo's toiling songstress, and it
climaxes in a wonderful moment in which Erivo tosses aside her wig to belt
out a tune to cover the noise of an act Bridges doesn't want to be heard
committing. As a story of a gravelly-voiced, bearded man helping a
struggling young female singer to find her true voice, this subplot is a
more engaging version of A Star is Born than the most recent
reboot of that oft-told tale, and in Erivo - a Tony Award winning British
stage performer making her film debut with a striking turn - a star truly is
born.
Bad Times at the El Royale is on
Disney+ UK/ROI now.
