Four Rooms (1995)

Classic Comedy

You know, I've seen this thing reviewed anywhere from one to five stars and I find that amusing. This is a classic comedy and one of those rare movies that simply gets better and better as it goes along. This is up there with Slapshot, No time for Sergeants, and A Night at the Opera. The moments that are clever and funny in this movie are as clever and as funny as a movie can get.

It's simply a movie about bellhop, played perfectly by Tim Roth, at a "on the way back" Hollywood Hotel on New Years Eve. Bruce Willis, Marisa Tomei, Kathy Griffin, Antonio Banderas, David Proval, Jennifer Beals and Tamlyn Tomita play their parts perfectly.

This is a movie you have to pay attention to if you want to get all the humor, much of it subtle. This is a no-brainer 5 star comedy. One fo the best comedies of all time. June 17, 2008

Great find

I was pleased to find this movie...when you look for classics such as this, people look as if you have two heads, I'm glad Amazon also has two heads ;o) March 31, 2008

One of my favorites!!

I love this movie!! It's really well done, very different. I don't really know what to say about it other than to see it. It's good fun!! Lots of fun acting and scenarios. February 7, 2008

'UNDER THE RADAR' COMEDY CLASSIC!!!

'Four Rooms' is a 1995 Anthology comedy that features a collaboration of four different directors; Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Quentin Terantino, and Robert Rodriguez.
'Four Rooms' is a widly silly, slap-stick, funny, strange, and entertaining film that doesn't get the noteriaty that it deserves so I thought I'd write a review to spread the word.

Our story is told through the point of view of Ted(Tim Roth), A bellhop on his first night of work at a crumbling L.A hotel. As the title hints, there are four rooms and each room is an individual story tied together by Ted.

1)The Missing Ingrediant(Anders)-Ted stumbles into a coven of witches in the middle of a ceremony. It just so happens that the ceremony needs 'man-juice' and with Ted being the only male present.....
(This is probably the weakest story)

2)The Wrong Man(Rockwell)-Ted delivers ice to the wrong room and winds up being assaulted and taken hostage in what may or may not be some kind of sexual role-playing game.

3)The Misbehavers(Terantino)-This is my personal favorite. While on call to a room, Ted is offered a large sum of money to 'check up' on 2 children while the parents are out at a party. It's easy to see what happens next, the kids 'misbehave', but the hook is how far the situation is taken(and it is taken to such an extreme that it becomes quite silly).

4)The Man From Hollywood(Rodriguez). Ted is called to a room and winds up being asked to partisapate in a very bizarre bet.

'Four Room' is a wildly funny movie that has snuck by the general audiance for some reason. The humor is quite off-beat and has a 'slap-stick' element to it, but doesn't go overboard with 'toilet humor'.

The acting and dialoge is superb. Theres alot of physical comedy that creates a slap-stick vibe, and Roth and Co. pull this off well. This movie is littered with familiar faces and cameos. you will see the likes of Tim Roth, Madonna(not that anyone cares), Jennifer Beals, Antonio Banderez, Marisa Tomei, Bruce Willis(un-credited), Kathy Griffin, and Terantino himself.
The editing is solid. The movie moves at a good pace and the individual stories don't overstay their welcome.

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! I just saw it the other night for the first time in ages(it inspired me to write this review) and it still hasen't lost any of its 'edge'. If you like off-beat comedies, SEE THIS FILM A.S.A.P.!! Then tell your friends to see it, write some reviews, spread the word and help this movie get the status it deserves!!
February 4, 2008

Oops...! She did it again!

Like Britney Spears' spiraling descent into the pits of all her dementia, Madonna just retrogressed further and further with each movie she made. Let's see, there was Shadows and Fog, Blue in the Face, Girl 6 and lest we not forget the repugnant Dangerous Game. And then there was Four Rooms. In all fairness, this is likely not her worst film; that honor is bestowed to The Next Best Thing (but I simply do not have the strength to write a review about that dreadful concoction.)

You know, "Four Rooms" really could have been a better film. It was a clever idea, get a group of first-rate directors together for a low-budge anthology film with some of the biggest stars of the '90s. What could go wrong with that?

A lot is wrong with this film. All of the scenes are shoddy and second-rate. The picture and sound quality is lousy, even by 1970's standards. Did they get a cameraman on some type of a prison-study program? And the performances are mostly boring and abysmal. Although, the acting by Antonio Banderas isn't bad. He, especially gave a fine rendition as the harried father trying to have a good time with his wife. "The Misbehavers" segment was my favorite.

Aptly titled, "The Missing Ingredient," Madonna's segment was abhorrent. Yes, there is a missing ingredient; it's capability! "The Missing Ingredient" was the very worst story mainly because of Madonna. I don't understand, was the director (Allison Anders) afraid to actually tell Queen-Madonna what to do? I don't care if this is a B-movie, that doesn't give Madonna the right to flounce around and act like a no-talent snob.

Madonna walks around in her cute little black witch's costume reading her lines without any feeling or energy. (I get the serious impression that a piece of wet cardboard has more life and energy than this woman.) But what's really annoying with Madonna's "Elspheth" is that she simply does not fit in. It's like finding an extra fork from Target and trying to add it to your brand-new place-setting from Fortunoff. It just doesn't look right.

Madonna refused to do any promotion for this film because once she saw the final cut she went nuts. And even though it was in her contract she wouldn't do a single interview in celebration of this movie. And did you notice the movie poster? How many producers allow one of their lead stars to cut and color his or her hair after all of the scenes are shot, but before the final movie poster is photographed, printed and approved? (This is almost as bad is getting pregnant during the production of a big-budget movie. Oh, who did that? Madonna, who else!) In "Four Rooms" Madonna had long platinum hair and again after she saw how she looked, she decided to chop off her hair and color it red for the movie's poster. (This was done on a whim. Someone like Madonna probably owns stock in Lady Clairol.) This is simply not done and makes everyone involved look like total unprofessional amateurs.

It's been said for the latter part of the last 30 years that Madonna is a master-manipulator who knows how to court the press and the public, if only for her own self-serving agenda. Personally, I know the woman is a genius. Who else could have done everything she did and held on to her throne for 25 years, if only out of sheer psychoneurosis? In the '80s Madonna went out of her way to prove that she was a singer. In the '90s she wanted to prove she was an actress. And, in the '00s Madonna has done everything under the sun (just short of getting a lobotomy) to make us all believe that she's a kind and loving individual. The New Madonna wants desperately to be accepted as a "real person." But as we learned years ago, with movies like this, Madonna can't act if her life depended on it. She comes off as devious and rather obsessive. Like Hillary Clinton, unfortunately, Madonna is a very lonely woman who is incapable of showing or receiving any type of sincere affection. Perhaps, the biggest role of her life was just playing the part of Madonna?

I suppose we should be thankful that Madonna no longer makes movies. She stopped making movies 6 years ago, after that distorted nonsense that her hubby directed, Swept Away. (FYI, his career tanked after that!) Sadly, even the old Madonna, with zero acting potentiality, is more charismatic than what she has morphed into this time around the proverbial incarnation tree.

January 30, 2008

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