Short story anthologies can often suffer from being only as strong as their weakest link. This fact almost destroys Four Rooms, an anthology seemingly organized by Tarantino picking some of his favourite up-and-comers of his generation at the time. Allison Anders and Alexandre Rockwell has since faded into obscurity, but two of the directors on the bill, El Mariachi's Robert Rodriguez and the man himself, Quentin Tarantino, are now two of my personal favourite working directors. Four Rooms has too many weaknesses to fully recommend, but the final two segments almost fully redeem it.
The stories are mostly unconnected, save the presence of Tim Roth's Ted the bellhop character. As such, each segment should be reviewed individually.
The movie opens with Anders' The Missing Ingredient. A coven of witches convene in the honeymoon suite with a cauldron and nudity at their disposal, attempting to revive a fallen comrade. When one of them fails to obtain their sacrifice of semen, she must get it from the only man in sight...the bellhop.
This segment is by all means godawful. The only good thing I can even say about it is that it makes the next one look good in comparison. Ione Sky as the main witch has that girl-next-door look to her essential to her role, and is perhaps the only good thing about the segment. Madonna has a nothing role with an annoying goth daughter, who seems like she should have had a more important role but is instead throwaway. Of the other witches, only Lili Taylor is memorable in any way. The effects used are right out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and don't fit at all with the rest of the film. If you ignore this segment, the movie is likely all the better for it.
Rockwell's piece, The Wrong Man, has a very interesting setup, but fails to be consistent. Ted is given the wrong room number to deliver ice to, and ends up in the hands a gun-toting jealous husband (an excellent David Proval), who has his wife gagged up and is smoking out the man named Theodore she's been sleeping with.
The segment definitely has its moments, such as Ted yelling for help out of a bathroom window or Proval's gun-waving antics, but it digresses a little too much. A heart attack twist at the end is a major groaner, and Tim Roth hams it up far too much in his role here. The music is also quite horribly used. Not nearly as bad as the first part, but The Wrong Man doesn't add much to the movie.
The saving grace comes in Rodriguez's The Misbehavers, the direct precursor to Spy Kids. A smooth Spanish thug (a hilarious Antonio Banderas) wishes to attend a party with his wife, and pays Ted $500 to keep an eye on his children and make sure they don't misbehave. Through Vapo-Rub and dead bodies, of all things, Ted has his work cut out for him.
The Misbehavers is actually the high point of the entire film. The ending is simply hilarious, the setup is very well detailed. And, unlike the cleaner Spy Kids movies, its pretty damn dark. Banderas is absolutely excellent, as are the children.
This leads to the final story, Tarantino's The Man from Hollywood. Fed up with the crazy night, Ted calls his boss and complains that he's quitting. A call comes in from the penthouse, and he is convinced by her that he must fill their request, as an important customer from Hollywood is staying there. Ted caves and finds himself in the middle of one of the most eccentric bets straight out of Hitchcock.
While not as memorable as The Misbehavors, Tarantino's bit is very entertaining. It has that traditional Tarantino swagger. Tarantino himself plays the man from Hollywood, making the dialogue a little more annoying but at the same time all the more stylish. Marisa Tomei is excellent in her short role. And Bruce Willis has a cameo. Whats not the love? The ending is simply amazing as well.
The only thing left to address is Tim Roth, the most uneven part of the whole picture. As the only character in all stories, being under four different directors must be difficult to maintain consistency. As such, Tim Roth gives us two horrible performances (The Missing Ingredient and The Wrong Man), one brilliant one (The Misbehavors) and one very strong one (Man from Hollywood). While his 50s-sitcom performance in Missing Ingredient fits in with the general badness of that segment, his performance is arguably the worst part of The Wrong Man. His timing in The Misbehavors is the stuff of legend, as is his role at the end of Man from Hollywood.
If you switch on halfway through, Four Rooms is a delightful little hodgepodge movie. Its a shame two poor segments distract from that. For simplicity, here's all four rated individually:
The Missing Ingredient: 10% The Wrong Man: 30% The Misbehavors: 90% The Man from Hollywood: 85%
At least you leave it feeling good, despite sitting through some drudge at first.
The stories are mostly unconnected, save the presence of Tim Roth's Ted the bellhop character. As such, each segment should be reviewed individually.
The movie opens with Anders' The Missing Ingredient. A coven of witches convene in the honeymoon suite with a cauldron and nudity at their disposal, attempting to revive a fallen comrade. When one of them fails to obtain their sacrifice of semen, she must get it from the only man in sight...the bellhop.
This segment is by all means godawful. The only good thing I can even say about it is that it makes the next one look good in comparison. Ione Sky as the main witch has that girl-next-door look to her essential to her role, and is perhaps the only good thing about the segment. Madonna has a nothing role with an annoying goth daughter, who seems like she should have had a more important role but is instead throwaway. Of the other witches, only Lili Taylor is memorable in any way. The effects used are right out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and don't fit at all with the rest of the film. If you ignore this segment, the movie is likely all the better for it.
Rockwell's piece, The Wrong Man, has a very interesting setup, but fails to be consistent. Ted is given the wrong room number to deliver ice to, and ends up in the hands a gun-toting jealous husband (an excellent David Proval), who has his wife gagged up and is smoking out the man named Theodore she's been sleeping with.
The segment definitely has its moments, such as Ted yelling for help out of a bathroom window or Proval's gun-waving antics, but it digresses a little too much. A heart attack twist at the end is a major groaner, and Tim Roth hams it up far too much in his role here. The music is also quite horribly used. Not nearly as bad as the first part, but The Wrong Man doesn't add much to the movie.
The saving grace comes in Rodriguez's The Misbehavers, the direct precursor to Spy Kids. A smooth Spanish thug (a hilarious Antonio Banderas) wishes to attend a party with his wife, and pays Ted $500 to keep an eye on his children and make sure they don't misbehave. Through Vapo-Rub and dead bodies, of all things, Ted has his work cut out for him.
The Misbehavers is actually the high point of the entire film. The ending is simply hilarious, the setup is very well detailed. And, unlike the cleaner Spy Kids movies, its pretty damn dark. Banderas is absolutely excellent, as are the children.
This leads to the final story, Tarantino's The Man from Hollywood. Fed up with the crazy night, Ted calls his boss and complains that he's quitting. A call comes in from the penthouse, and he is convinced by her that he must fill their request, as an important customer from Hollywood is staying there. Ted caves and finds himself in the middle of one of the most eccentric bets straight out of Hitchcock.
While not as memorable as The Misbehavors, Tarantino's bit is very entertaining. It has that traditional Tarantino swagger. Tarantino himself plays the man from Hollywood, making the dialogue a little more annoying but at the same time all the more stylish. Marisa Tomei is excellent in her short role. And Bruce Willis has a cameo. Whats not the love? The ending is simply amazing as well.
The only thing left to address is Tim Roth, the most uneven part of the whole picture. As the only character in all stories, being under four different directors must be difficult to maintain consistency. As such, Tim Roth gives us two horrible performances (The Missing Ingredient and The Wrong Man), one brilliant one (The Misbehavors) and one very strong one (Man from Hollywood). While his 50s-sitcom performance in Missing Ingredient fits in with the general badness of that segment, his performance is arguably the worst part of The Wrong Man. His timing in The Misbehavors is the stuff of legend, as is his role at the end of Man from Hollywood.
If you switch on halfway through, Four Rooms is a delightful little hodgepodge movie. Its a shame two poor segments distract from that. For simplicity, here's all four rated individually:
The Missing Ingredient: 10% The Wrong Man: 30% The Misbehavors: 90% The Man from Hollywood: 85%
At least you leave it feeling good, despite sitting through some drudge at first.