Four Rooms (1995)

Four interlocking tales that take place in a fading hotel on New Year's Eve.

Directors:

Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell

Writers:

Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell

Stars:

Tim Roth, Antonio Banderas, Sammi Davis

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sammi Davis	...	Jezebel (segment "The Missing Ingredient")
Amanda De Cadenet	...	Diana (segment "The Missing Ingredient") (as Amanda deCadenet)
Valeria Golino	...	Athena (segment "The Missing Ingredient")
Madonna	...	Elspeth (segment "The Missing Ingredient")
Ione Skye	...	Eva (segment "The Missing Ingredient")
Lili Taylor	...	Raven (segment "The Missing Ingredient")
Alicia Witt	...	Kiva (segment "The Missing Ingredient")
Jennifer Beals	...	Angela (segments "The Wrong Man", "The Man from Hollywood")
David Proval	...	Sigfried (segment "The Wrong Man")
Antonio Banderas	...	Man (segment "The Misbehavers")
Lana McKissack	...	Sarah (segment "The Misbehavers")
Patricia Vonne	...	Corpse (segment "The Misbehavers") (as Patricia Vonne Rodriguez)
Tamlyn Tomita	...	Wife (segment "The Misbehavers")
Danny Verduzco	...	Juancho (segment "The Misbehavers")
Salma Hayek	...	TV Dancing Girl (segment "The Misbehavers")

Storyline

This movie features the collaborative directorial efforts of four new filmmakers, each of whom directs a segment of this comedy. It's New Year's Eve at the Mon Signor Hotel, a former grand old Hollywood hotel, now fallen upon hard times. Often using physical comedy and sight gags, this movie chronicles the slapstick misadventures of Ted, the Bellhop. He's on his first night on the job, when he's asked to help out a coven of witches in the Honeymoon Suite. Things only get worse when he delivers ice to the wrong room and ends up in a domestic argument at a really bad time. Next, he foolishly agrees to watch a gangster's kids for him while he's away. Finally, he finishes off the night refereeing a ghastly wager.

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Plot Keywords:

woman | gagged woman | tied to a chair | weapon | revolver | 

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Taglines:

Twelve outrageous guests. Four scandalous requests. And one lone bellhop, in his first day on the job, who's in for the wildest New year's Eve of his life.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, sexuality and some drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the final segment, "The Man From Hollywood", which last 21 minutes, the word "fuck" or a variant of it is said 193 times.

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Goofs

In the segment "The Misbehavers" the girl calls room 409 to check if they have needles as well but it's actually room 404 (from the previous segment "The Wrong Man"). Earlier the real Theodore just mentions room 409 when his friend at the party calls Ted for ice and he can't remember which room they are in.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sam the Bellhop: We used to have 50 on staff here. 50! I'm the only one left. It all comes down to one schmuck: me. The night-shift bellhop. What the hell is that, a bellhop? Huh, what is that? You know where the name comes from? Huh? From someone stupid! Some schmuck rings and bell and ya hop, you hop front and center.

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Crazy Credits

Bruce Willis does not apear in the credits but his hairstylist does

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Connections

Features Rambo (1987)

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Soundtracks

Carnival Of Souls
Written by Peter Dixon
Performed by Combustible Edison
Courtesy of Sub Pop Records

User Reviews

"I'm in a situation I can't begin to explain."

I've decided to review each segment separately, this may take a while so if you can't be bothered please feel free to move on, but I'm trying to save you time and money.

Segment#1: The Missing Ingredient

Aka this biggest piece of sh*t I've ever had the (dis)pleasure of viewing. If you want to see how not to make a short story then watch this segment, it's badly timed, badly judged, badly acted - just plain bad. I gave up watching the film on the first attempt because this was just awful, why the hell did they cast Madonna, avoid at all costs. (1/10)

Segment#2: The Wrong Man

Things don't get much better in Rockwell's piece, the cinematography and production design are nice but besides that the entire thing is just dull, the plot is just too deeply structured to work on this small running time. More threatening than comedic; let's move on. (3/10)

Segment#3: The Misbehavers

Believe what others have written, this IS the reason to watch this movie, brilliant non-stop hilarity as Tim Roth's Ted the Bellboy is left in charge of two brat-ish troublesome kids. Rodriguez has a great handle on the mixture of slapstick farce and black comedy that's very satisfying. Things can only get better... (9/10)

Segment#4: The Man From Hollywood ...Except they don't. Tarantino's segment is good enough, lots of experiments with primary colours and long stedicam tracking shots, but you can't help thinking the film is just pandering to Tarantino's ego (he play's the biggest star in Hollywood). But the ending works well and the tension built is fantastic. (8/10)

To finish, Four Rooms would have been better if they had scraped the first two monstrosities (Anders and Rockwell where riding the coattails of Rodriguez and Tarantino anyway and have no where near as much talent) and kept the film as an hour-long TV special. If you must watch it, fast forward the first two segments, you'll save a lot of time and effort...

Overall rating 4/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Four Rooms and a Hotel

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$427,733, 25 December 1995

Gross USA:

$4,257,354

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,257,354

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, A Band Apart

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 110 min (workprint)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1