Product: The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Quirky and Addictive
I love this film and watch it repeatedly. I can't get enough of the ambiant forces Wenders brought to this cautionary tale of life on the down and out in America.Mel Gibson's role as Special Agent Skinner is a hoot and it has been remarked that he goofed his way through this one. So what? Wenders has been lambasted for the ad hoc feel of the film, on the one hand, and for the obsessive stylistic effects of the digital edit, on the other hand. Again, so what?Milla Jovovich is a pleasure to watch, as she flits about, and Jeremy Davies, as agitated nerd, is a mannered play on the fidgeting fool well-loved by Shakespeareans the world round.There are numerous sendups in this piece - e.g. the John Lennon impersonations (Peter Stormare) or the swipes at Schnabel by Schnabel (via the tar paintings) - but overall there is a shimmering, magic aura around this film that won't go away.And, O that soundtrack! by Eno, Lanois, Bono et alia ...