Four Rooms movie review & film summary (1995) | Roger Ebert (2024)

Ted The Bellboy: Tim Roth

Thisanthology film with four stories set in a fading hotel and one character incommon is a mixed bag, with one hilarious segment, one passable and two thatdon't work at all.

`TheMissing Ingredient' (STAR) Jezebel Sammi Davis Diana Amanda deCadenet AthenaValeria Golino Elspeth Madonna Written and directed by Allison Anders.

`TheWrong Man' (STAR) Angela Jennifer Beals Sigfried David Proval Written anddirected by Alexandre Rockwell.

`TheMisbehavers' (STAR) (STAR) (STAR) 1/2 Man Antonio Banderas Wife Tamlyn TomitaSon Danny Verduzco Daughter Lana McKissack Corpse Patricia Vonne RodriguezWritten and directed by Robert Rodriguez.

`TheMan From Hollywood' (STAR) (STAR) Angela Jennifer Beals Norman Paul CalderonChester Quentin Tarantino Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

`FourRooms" comes billed as a film made by four friends. If they are still friendsafter finishing this film, that says a lot for their friendship.

Themovie's an anthology of four stories set in a faded hotel, with the bellhop,played by Tim Roth, as the connecting link. The other thing they have in commonis their co-producer, the ever-available Quentin Tarantino, who spent 1995demonstrating that he could not only direct a great movie ("PulpFiction") but could become the most ubiquitous guest star since TonyRandall.

Thefour segments are widely different in quality. On the useful scale of theMichelin guides, one is worth a trip, another is worth a detour, and the othertwo are a colossal waste of bandwidth. The directors are Allison Anders("Gas, Food and Lodging"), Alexandre Rockwell ("In theSoup"), Robert Rodriguez ("Desperado") and Tarantino, who shouldsave his trademarked stuff for his good movies before he exhausts it inout-of-town tryouts.

Thebest of the four films - and it's very funny - is Rodriguez's "TheMisbehavers." It opens as Ted (Roth), the bellboy, checks in a Latinotough guy (Antonio Banderas), his wife (Tamlyn Tomita), and their two smallkids. Banderas is hilarious in a parody of his usual macho stud role (I likethe way he kicks the elevator button and folds his wife into his arms in thesame smooth motion).

Butthe fun starts after the couple head out to celebrate New Year's Eve and askTed to baby-sit.

Heis stern with the children, uttering dire threats if they do not behave. Notonly do they misbehave, but they do it so comprehensively that there's one shot(I won't say more) in which they seem to have gotten into all possiblevarieties of trouble simultaneously. And that's before the dead body turns up.This is slapstick on a grand scale, acted and edited with perfect comic timing,and it makes me want to see a Rodriguez comedy.

Unfortunately,it's the only one of the four films really worth seeing. The next best, butdisposable, is "The Man from Hollywood," directed by Tarantino and(need I add?) starring him as an obnoxious new movie star who has taken over asuite with his strange friends (including an unbilled Bruce Willis). By thetime Ted walks in, they're drunk and doing a replay of an old Alfred Hitchco*ckTV episode in which a man bets he can light a Zippo lighter 10 times in a row.If he loses, his finger gets chopped off.

Thisstory line is appropriately Tarantinonian, but the timing is off (except forone key shot), and the dialogue is all over the map. The movie looks carelesslyprepared. Tarantino had the right idea in choosing to satirize himself butunfortunately does not seem to understand why he is funny. A movie about himmaking this film could have been hilarious.

Theother two segments are disappointments. Anders gathers a coven of witches(including Madonna) in the Honeymoon Suite for obscure rituals, but only LiliTaylor seems to be in character (whatever it is) and the others look likethey're waiting for instruction. The Honeymoon Suite comes equipped with a hugeporcelain cauldron in the middle of the floor, and Anders rarely figures outhow to frame her shots to simultaneously include the characters, and cauldronand the point.

Equallyunsuccessful is Rockwell's "The Wrong Man," starring Jennifer Bealsand David Proval in the story of a jealous husband holding his wife atgunpoint.

Rothwas directed by each of the four filmmakers in their segments, and the resultis revealing: He has a comic role to play, and does it wonderfully, in theRodriguez segment, but in the other three pieces he depends mostly on mugging,incredulous reaction shots, double takes, and a walk that looks like abowlegged sailor trying to tack across a deck in high seas.

Itis not my job, I suppose, to provide career advice for the exuberant Tarantino,who after all is one of the most likable characters to hit Hollywood in a longtime. Judging from his filmography since "Pulp Fiction," heapparently makes friends quickly, and cements each friendship with a contractto collaborate on a movie. He has a big talent, and I would like to gentlysuggest that sometime soon he commence a project that will remind us of that.