Bad Times at the El Royale - A Movie Review

Tweet

"Bad Times at the El Royale" is a neo-noir thriller that was released in 2018. CAST Jeff Bridges - Donald "Dock" O'Kelly/Daniel Flynn Cynthia Erivo - Darlene Sweet Dakota Johnson - Emily Summerspring Hannah Zirke - Young Emily John Hamm - Dwight Broadbeck/"Laramie" Seymour Sullivan Cailee Spaeny - Rose Summerspring Charlotte Mosby - Young Rose Lewis Pullman - Miles Miller Austin Abell - Young Miles Chris Hemsworth - Billy Lee Nick Offerman - Felix O'Kelly Xavier Dolan - Buddy Sunday 1959 - Felix enters a hotel room, moves the furniture and rolls up the carpet. He then pries up some floorboards and stashes a bag full of money under the floor. He puts everything back. He is then visited by a man who shoots and kills him. 10 YEARS LATER 1969 - This is the story of seven strangers, each hiding a dark secret, who converge on the El Royale one night on the California/Nevada border. Catholic priest Daniel Flynn, lounge singer Darlene Sweet (heading to sing in Reno), vacuum cleaner salesman "Laramie" Seymour Sullivan and hippie Emily Summerspring arrive at the El Royale and wait to be checked in by the only hotel employee, Miles Miller. The hotel is divided by a red line, designating one half in California and one half in Nevada. The four guests sign in and head to their rooms. ROOM 1 Sullivan is on the phone with his daughter as he takes wires (bugs) out of the phone and out of other various parts of the room. He goes outside of his room and finds a corridor that contains two-way mirrors into the other rooms. He sees Darlene practicing her singing and turns on the sound. He sees Emily pulling a young woman into the room and tying her to a chair. ROOM 5 Prior to coming to the El Royale, Darlene is in a recording studio and is told by her manager, Buddy Sunday, that his time is much more valuable than hers and if she wants to make more money than she does now, she should do what he says. Flynn knocks on Darlene's door after hearing her sing. He invites her to the lobby for dinner and a drink. Flynn is losing his memory due to an unstated condition. When in the lobby, he puts a drug in Darlene's drink; but Darlene smashes a bottle on his head. Back with Sullivan. He is on the phone with his superior. Their main operation seems to be compromised because of all the wires found in his room. Sullivan is more preoccupied with what is going on in Emily's room. He is ordered to stick to the original plan and not interfere with the other situation. ROOM 7 On the beach, prior to being at the El Royale, Rose, the young woman in Emily's room, is approached by a man named Billy Lee. He asks her why she's sad; and it's implied that something happened to one of her parents. He takes off his clothes and invites her to go for a swim. Back at the hotel we learn that Rose is Emily's sister and that she has taken her away from an evil place. If you want to find out what happens next, you will have to watch the movie. This movie runs for 141 minutes, which is about 30 minutes too long. It's long, it's boring and extremely slow-paced. I wasn't even interested in what happened to these people. I just wanted it to end. The movie received mostly positive reviews; but the critics thought the movie was too long (I agree) and criticized the pacing (Yes! Boring). It was a failure at the box office with a budget of $32 million and box office receipts of $31.9 million. I cannot recommend this movie. If you do watch it; and you disagree, please leave a comment for me. Thank you! If you are interested in the music from this movie, there is a soundtrack available. This movie is rated R. Photo Credit: Pixabay