The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Bono (story)
Nicholas Klein (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 February 2000 (Germany)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Tragi-comic, romantic whodunnit set in a run down hotel which plays host to mentally ill people too poor to afford medical insurance.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Sequel | Misfit | Murder | Painting

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Jeremy Davies	...	Tom Tom
Milla Jovovich	...	Eloise
Mel Gibson	...	Detective Skinner
Jimmy Smits	...	Geronimo
Peter Stormare	...	Dixie
Bud Cort	...	Shorty
Amanda Plummer	...	Vivien
Gloria Stuart	...	Jessica
Tom Bower	...	Hector
Donal Logue	...	Charley Best
Julian Sands	...	Terence Scopey
Conrad Roberts	...	Stix
Harris Yulin	...	Stanley Goldkiss
Charlayne Woodard	...	Jean Swift
Ellen Cleghorne	...	Marlene

Also Known As:

The Billion Dollar Hotel (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Germany | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18PL (uncut) | South Korea:15 | Malaysia:U (cut) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Iceland:L | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Icon Entertainment International

Trivia:

The film's story was conceived by and the film produced by Bono, the lead singer of U2. (U2 have contributed songs to all Wim Wenders' films since _Until the End of the World (1991)_ ). The band makes a brief cameo appearance in the hotel's lobby. The hotel is an actual hotel in L.A. and Bono was inspired to come up with the idea for the film after the group shot the video for the song "Where the Streets Have No Name" there in the mid-1980s. In the video the band gave a live performance on the roof from where Tom-Tom jumps.

Goofs:

Continuity: The positions of the pool balls change during the voting scene.

Quotes:

Detective Skinner: I could play the violin and wipe my own ass all at the same time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Land of Plenty (2004)

Soundtrack:

Dancin' Shoes

It is a very nice movie that puts the question : Who is mad?

I read only negative critics about this movie and I don't confirm that. I found it very interesting. I was even often laughing where everybody in the cinema around me were silent!! I have to admit that I had big questions after watching it but this is usual for the most movies of Wim Wenders. Anyway he is the director from whom I watched the biggest number of movies. Some crazy people (in a way or another) live in the Million Dollar Hotel where everything took place. At the end I was asking myself whether they were crazy at all. I even felt that inhabitants of this hotel are an allegory on the whole crazy world! Or maybe they were sane and the others were insane!! There was certainly a critic about many aspects of the life in USA. It is for instance certainly not a coincidence that a personality in this happens to be a big Jewish media boss who manipulates the FBI and the Media in the way he wants!! Why was the FBI agent a half cripple? The were many other questions. One thing is sure, and that is that I was not bored at all. The photography was great as expected from W. Wenders. The music is also very nice and U2 (or Bono) put a lot of their (his) talent inside it. I surely should not forget the actors. They acted all very good and in a persuasive manner. Anyhow I expect that many people wouldn't like. It doesn't have the typical kind of stories that are generally common and beloved by the most of the public but it is right variety for me.