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Niagara Motel
Allumination Filmworks // PG-13 // February 5, 2008
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Dark comedies can be strange beasts, especially when they skate too close along the lines of comedic drama and plain outlandishness. Niagara Motel, Gary Yates' uncomfortable farce, shares a similar exemplification. How can a comedy without tangible humor and a drama without fluid evocation remotely compel its audience? Somehow, Yates' character-driven exercise in quirks and sarcasms marginally grabs such success, but not without several noticeable blemishes and cringe-worthy exchanges that suppress Niagara Motel from being a discernible accomplishment.
The Film:
Niagara Motel, as to be expected, takes place on the grounds of a hole-in-the-wall roadside hotel and casual eatery close to Niagara Falls. It's a lower-scale destination outside of the touristy locales around the area, one that draws more peculiar characters as clients. Interestingly, the hotel and its counterpart restaurant serve as nothing more than a gathering point for the overwhelming myriad of oddball characters to which we're introduced. It's a weird form of chaotic crossroads for any and all that stumble into its confines. Here's a quick rundown:
At the hotel, a janitorial groundsworker and bellhop (Craig Fergusen) drunkenly stumbles around while on duty. Newly acquired guests Henry and Lily, a couple on the rocks (Wendy Crewsen, Peter Keleghan), continuously bicker about the husband's lack of job while the wife intriguingly spies on the prostitute operating in one of the other rooms across from theirs. On the other side of the hotel, another couple in shambles (Anna Friel, Kristen Holden-Ried) fighting their drug addiction await to hear from a social worker regarding the status of their confiscated child. Meanwhile, at the restaurant, young Loretta must fend off a staple salesman's advances, an ex-lover's phonecalls, and a perverted sex industry worker (Kevin Pollack) as he lures her into a world of erotic moneymaking.
Sounds a lot like a televised sitcom, doesn't it? With the way Yates controls each line of derivative dialogue and the way his director of photography statically captured each scene involving extensive speech, Niagara Motel feels more inclined to be consumed in episodic fashion instead of as a feature film. Each segmented storyline takes on different moods, ones that don't really mesh together terribly well. Following each narrative can make the film seem jumpy and unfocused; yet, if there was a broader picture that could develop either before or after the actions in Niagara Motel, then the storylines could have more room to breathe and, potentially, latch onto its audience. Niagara Motel feels like an off week for a mediocre comedy series instead of a complete film, yet it still carries that familiar certain something with the relationships that keeps you wondering what'll happen next.
Though I didn't really "laugh" at its lopsided sense of humor and I didn't buy into many of the character's off-kilter impulses, director Yates still makes ample use of a solid cast in crafting bizarrely alluring personalities that help Niagara Motel build an oddly magnetic mood. Some are, of course, more compelling than others; Craig Ferguson's smitten, depressive janitor at least rustles up a few grins here and there with his idiosyncrasy, while Catherine Fitch gives one of the more convincingly humorous parts as the foreign eatery "manager" Sophia. In turn, I enjoyed Kevin Pollack's pimp-ish Michael and his slimy wooing of the young waitress, yet it's only because of Pollack's naturally humorous mood escaping through the very blasé sexual dialogue he delivers. Furthermore, Anna Friel flops into the more intense side of things as she dramatically streams through the picture with one of its more fervent momentums.
It's a triumph of talent over weak dialogue, and the triumph they enjoy isn't quite enough to lift Niagara Motel's cackling train of tedious verbose from the ashes. It doesn't try to find a balance between its darker side and its comedic inclinations; instead, it takes a central path and opts to be just flat-out unusual. Many of the decisions made by the characters reflect such a mood, opting to turn completely away from sensible rationale towards completely hair-brained logic that can be infuriating. The film still finds a rhythm, though, one that offers enough allure to keep watching through its ridiculousness. It's not as cleverly or aptly assembled as dark comedies like Magnolia or even The Ice Storm, but Niagara Motel has a few moments of familiar character-driven charm that at least kept me mildly hooked through its eccentricity.
The DVD:
Allumination brings Niagara Motel to DVD in a standard keepcase presentation.
The Video:
Presented in an anamorphic widescreen image at roughly 1.78:1, Niagara Motel is a fairly colorful and vibrant film. Lots of different blue, red, and green hues hit the screen, and they all generally look quite solid here. Edge enhancement can be seen in a few spots, especially with smaller items on the screen (such as birds against Niagara Falls). Also, there's a fair amount of digital noise in several spots, rendering some flickering points in the print. However, the level of detail and clarity in the print is actually pretty sharp. It could look a little less "digitized", but Niagara Motel looks pretty clean in this presentation.
The Audio:
Just as to be expected from a dialogue-driven comedy / drama, much of the Dolby 5.1 track here is very front heavy. The moody score sounds decent here, as does a majority of the other bustling activity, such as rushing water. Dialogue is, for the majority, pretty clean; audibility drops off intermittently at a few points in the track, but as a whole every line of Niagara Motel can be heard with reasonable clarity. Subtitles are available in Spanish.
The Extras:
Aside from a Trailer and a few previews, nothing else adorns this disc.
----- Final Thoughts:
I can't say that I really "enjoyed" Niagara Motel, but the myriad of strange characters and their subplots kept me fixated until its close for almost inexplicable reasons. It's a dark comedy loaded with enough uneven dialogue to give you the shivers, but the performances pump it with enough much needed gravitas to keep it going. Paired with adequate audio and video quality, Niagara Motel is a flick purely worth a Rental. It's a film that should've been segmented into more constrained and focused episodes on television, which makes this final product about an hour and a half of jumpy, bizarre relationships laced with a peculiar manner - and that's not a horrible thing in the least.
Thomas Spurlin, Staff Reviewer -- DVDTalk Reviews | Personal Blog/Site
The Film:
Niagara Motel, as to be expected, takes place on the grounds of a hole-in-the-wall roadside hotel and casual eatery close to Niagara Falls. It's a lower-scale destination outside of the touristy locales around the area, one that draws more peculiar characters as clients. Interestingly, the hotel and its counterpart restaurant serve as nothing more than a gathering point for the overwhelming myriad of oddball characters to which we're introduced. It's a weird form of chaotic crossroads for any and all that stumble into its confines. Here's a quick rundown:
At the hotel, a janitorial groundsworker and bellhop (Craig Fergusen) drunkenly stumbles around while on duty. Newly acquired guests Henry and Lily, a couple on the rocks (Wendy Crewsen, Peter Keleghan), continuously bicker about the husband's lack of job while the wife intriguingly spies on the prostitute operating in one of the other rooms across from theirs. On the other side of the hotel, another couple in shambles (Anna Friel, Kristen Holden-Ried) fighting their drug addiction await to hear from a social worker regarding the status of their confiscated child. Meanwhile, at the restaurant, young Loretta must fend off a staple salesman's advances, an ex-lover's phonecalls, and a perverted sex industry worker (Kevin Pollack) as he lures her into a world of erotic moneymaking.
Sounds a lot like a televised sitcom, doesn't it? With the way Yates controls each line of derivative dialogue and the way his director of photography statically captured each scene involving extensive speech, Niagara Motel feels more inclined to be consumed in episodic fashion instead of as a feature film. Each segmented storyline takes on different moods, ones that don't really mesh together terribly well. Following each narrative can make the film seem jumpy and unfocused; yet, if there was a broader picture that could develop either before or after the actions in Niagara Motel, then the storylines could have more room to breathe and, potentially, latch onto its audience. Niagara Motel feels like an off week for a mediocre comedy series instead of a complete film, yet it still carries that familiar certain something with the relationships that keeps you wondering what'll happen next.
Though I didn't really "laugh" at its lopsided sense of humor and I didn't buy into many of the character's off-kilter impulses, director Yates still makes ample use of a solid cast in crafting bizarrely alluring personalities that help Niagara Motel build an oddly magnetic mood. Some are, of course, more compelling than others; Craig Ferguson's smitten, depressive janitor at least rustles up a few grins here and there with his idiosyncrasy, while Catherine Fitch gives one of the more convincingly humorous parts as the foreign eatery "manager" Sophia. In turn, I enjoyed Kevin Pollack's pimp-ish Michael and his slimy wooing of the young waitress, yet it's only because of Pollack's naturally humorous mood escaping through the very blasé sexual dialogue he delivers. Furthermore, Anna Friel flops into the more intense side of things as she dramatically streams through the picture with one of its more fervent momentums.
It's a triumph of talent over weak dialogue, and the triumph they enjoy isn't quite enough to lift Niagara Motel's cackling train of tedious verbose from the ashes. It doesn't try to find a balance between its darker side and its comedic inclinations; instead, it takes a central path and opts to be just flat-out unusual. Many of the decisions made by the characters reflect such a mood, opting to turn completely away from sensible rationale towards completely hair-brained logic that can be infuriating. The film still finds a rhythm, though, one that offers enough allure to keep watching through its ridiculousness. It's not as cleverly or aptly assembled as dark comedies like Magnolia or even The Ice Storm, but Niagara Motel has a few moments of familiar character-driven charm that at least kept me mildly hooked through its eccentricity.
The DVD:
Allumination brings Niagara Motel to DVD in a standard keepcase presentation.
The Video:
Presented in an anamorphic widescreen image at roughly 1.78:1, Niagara Motel is a fairly colorful and vibrant film. Lots of different blue, red, and green hues hit the screen, and they all generally look quite solid here. Edge enhancement can be seen in a few spots, especially with smaller items on the screen (such as birds against Niagara Falls). Also, there's a fair amount of digital noise in several spots, rendering some flickering points in the print. However, the level of detail and clarity in the print is actually pretty sharp. It could look a little less "digitized", but Niagara Motel looks pretty clean in this presentation.
The Audio:
Just as to be expected from a dialogue-driven comedy / drama, much of the Dolby 5.1 track here is very front heavy. The moody score sounds decent here, as does a majority of the other bustling activity, such as rushing water. Dialogue is, for the majority, pretty clean; audibility drops off intermittently at a few points in the track, but as a whole every line of Niagara Motel can be heard with reasonable clarity. Subtitles are available in Spanish.
The Extras:
Aside from a Trailer and a few previews, nothing else adorns this disc.
----- Final Thoughts:
I can't say that I really "enjoyed" Niagara Motel, but the myriad of strange characters and their subplots kept me fixated until its close for almost inexplicable reasons. It's a dark comedy loaded with enough uneven dialogue to give you the shivers, but the performances pump it with enough much needed gravitas to keep it going. Paired with adequate audio and video quality, Niagara Motel is a flick purely worth a Rental. It's a film that should've been segmented into more constrained and focused episodes on television, which makes this final product about an hour and a half of jumpy, bizarre relationships laced with a peculiar manner - and that's not a horrible thing in the least.
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