10/16/18 - Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) - 5+/10

Certainly a decently good time at the theater, but the experience is fleeting and swamped in a nostalgic ichor and belabored pace. I liked it overall, but I certainly had no great love for it as I assume many would. It plays at being a 70’s Tarantino-lite, with its multiple interweaving character storylines, played out of chronological sequence. That is fine, for the movie does a solid job telling its story with the twists, turns, and developing depth to make it all come together so sweetly.

This is a film all about these characters, and thus the actors. Let’s discuss:

• John Ham - Meh. Laying it on pretty thick and didn’t do a whole lot for me.

• Jeff Bridges - I feel like he owns this film. Nuance, heart, and a gruff style that is so much his own.

• Cynthia Erivo - Her voice is beautiful and her live performances were sparkling. The rest was pretty good, bringing excitement, depth, and some exuberant gravitas.

• Dakota Johnson - Fine. I didn’t see much to push me one way or the other. Her character and performance is fairly one-note, but she is given little to fly with.

• Lewis Pullman - I thought he did a pretty terrific job. Granted, his purpose might have had the most meat on the bone to chew, but as a newcomer to me, he impressed.

• Chris Hemsworth - His cult shtick was a little hokey, but that bare torso though!

There were some really strong moments. The opening scene is wonderful. The bank robbery was quite strong. The punctuated moments of intrigue and action click. For me, the other ongoing pieces just felt a tad stagnant and lacked the intrigue that was necessary to stoke the fire of this film. There was a swirling of possibilities for larger questions and mythos-like story underpinnings, but they aren’t touched upon with any real depth, if at all (the early murder: never explained or really comes up again?). I like mysteries but I want meaning, not plot necessities.

Like I said, this is still a solid flick. A good low-key out-of-the-ordinary popcorn genre effort, but there was so much left on the table. They pushed for a vibe rather than solidifying the effort put into the story and durability of the feature. I enjoyed, but I can’t see myself ever thinking about this film again, which coming from someone acutely involved in Cabin in the Woods, Cloverfield, The Martian, Lost, and Netflix’s Daredevil felt like a let down.