Product: The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
Rating: 4.0
Pride cometh before a fall
I would gladly have given this movie 5 stars if not for one thing. After all, the cinematography was gorgeous and inventive; Davies and Jovovich were marvelous and creative and experimental; the first several minutes of the film, anchored by U2's "The First Time," are so beautiful and painful as to almost demand a pause before the rest of the movie can continue.This one thing, though, mars the film: Mel Gibson. It has been noted by several reviewers here that Gibson bad-mouthed the film before an American distributor had the chance to pick it up. For once, Gibson was remarkably perceptive about his role in the film, though he mistakenly laid the blame on others involved in the production. I think his subconscious recognition was that his own performance was truly awful. His violent antics are completely unconvincing, as is the most embarrassing scene in the movie, his explanation of his backbrace. Part of this may be Wenders fault. He clearly put too much confidence in Gibson's ability to pull off the scene and the role in general. The bulk of blame, though, goes to Gibson himself--too arrogant to recognize that the reason the film doesn't completely succeed is because he failed to bring a belief in his own role to the screen. I am shocked that so many reviewers laud his half-hearted, disinterested, all-smoke-and-no-fire performance as being anything more than the farce it is. He is a pop star; his successful movies, even when they are very good films (like Braveheart), are POP 'flicks.' Million Dollar Hotel is not a pop film; it's destiny, much like the current release AI, is not to sweep pop culture off its feet, but to subtly make a comment about the beauty of faith and love in a world that is falling apart. How disappointing that Wenders should be shamed for delicately and lovingly delivering this message by one of the most notoriously spoiled brats of pop cinema. Mr. Gibson can go back and make a Lethal Weapon 5 for all I care; he did nothing for THIS great film.