A Middling Stay at the "El Royale"

I very nearly didn't write a review for "Bad Times at the El Royale."  It was one of my most anticipated films of last year because Drew Goddard was writing and directing.  When I finally saw the film, however, it wasn't what I was expecting, and not in a good way. Instead of a broad ensemble action film full of colorful characters, this is a moodier, twistier piece of noir that takes itself more seriously.  The characters are plenty colorful, but not nearly as much fun as I'd hoped, and the humor I associate with Goddard's work is toned way down. I like the film, ultimately, but can't help feeling disappointed too.

The El Royale hotel, an establishment of declining fortunes, sits on the border between California and Nevada.  One fateful night in 1969, a priest, Father Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a travelling salesman, Laramie Sullivan (Jon Hamm), a soul singer, Darlene Love (Cynthia Erivo), and a mystery woman (Dakota Johnson), check into the El Royale.  There is only one employee, a nervous young man named Miles (Lewis Pullman). Everyone is hiding things, and the motley group will soon be joined by another young woman, Rose (Cailee Spaeny), and the charismatic and very dangerous Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth).

"Bad Times at the El Royale" has a lot in common with Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" and Martin McDonagh's "Seven Psychopaths."  These are all films that try to tell a collection of different stories about its various shady characters, and all of them end in violence and mayhem.  They also share a few major flaws, the most prominent being that there's not enough time to give all these characters and their stories their due. In the case of "El Royale," I kept being frustrated by interesting characters being killed off before we could learn more about them, or little hints of bigger storylines happening offscreen.  The movie ended with loose threads of plot hanging everywhere, to my frustration.

The two main characters are Father Flynn and Darlene Love, who manage to become something like friends during their brief stay at the El Royale.  It's a relationship punctuated by betrayals, assaults, and gunfire, but it actually plays out in a rather heartwarming fashion. Jeff Bridges is a lot of fun here, and Broadway star Cynthia Erivo makes her big screen debut as Darlene - and she's a total delight.  If the film kept itself focused on the two of them, I would have been much happier with "El Royale" overall. However, there's also the messy history of Dakota Johnson's character, Emily, a subplot involving a secret film of an affair, and a very late twist that might have worked better if it didn't feel so rushed.

I liked the first two thirds of the movie fine, and there are certain sequences that are very memorable and impressive.  Goddard does suspense very well, and it's enjoyable watching the various mysteries being set up, and some of the reveals playing out.  I like that the pacing is leisurely and takes its time. The opening sequence is a fantastic little mini-movie in and of itself, detailing another dark episode in the history of the hotel.  There's a rehearsal sequence with Darlene that slowly expands into something far more sinister. I love a lot of the little stylistic touches, like the movie being split into Tarantino-esque chapters, all the period details, and the fantastic look of the El Royale.  It's one of the only film locations in some time that I would visit if I could.

However, I think "El Royale" takes a bad turn in the last act, roughly when Billy Lee shows up.  Chris Hemsworth is fine, but the character doesn't gel with the rest of the movie well, and there's so much of that long, simmering build-up that just doesn't pay off.  I don't know if it was an editing problem or if the writing doesn't hold up, but the ending came off so badly that I left the film wondering if there had been major scenes left on the cutting room floor.  I wish I liked "El Royale" more, because it has some wonderful things in it - Lewis Pullman turns out to be the film's secret weapon - but its missteps were bad enough that I can't give it a pass.

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