User reviews

While Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room is not exactly one of the most interesting episodes I've seen of the show, the stifling atmosphere of the tiny room comes across very well. I almost felt claustrophobic at parts of it, not the least reason for which is the heat that accompanies the tight space. Joe Mantell stars as Jackie Rhoades, a small time crook who is hoping for one big score to get him out of his pathetic life, only to discover that the job, the details of which he spends the first half of the episode waiting for, involve committing a payback murder, a huge crime which he doesn't feel prepared to do.

Unfortunately, he is forced to commit the murder under penalty of being killed himself. What follows is a battle of two sides of his mind, talking to each other through a magic mirror of sorts, in which the strong half (in the mirror) berates him about the life he could have had, had he been smarter and been able to stand up for himself. The effect of having a fake mirror is pulled off remarkably well, with the only real IMDb goof being the laughable claim that the buttons on his shirt weren't reversed. Come on people, quit with the ridiculous details.

The performances, all two of them, are great and, while it's not the most deep and meaningful message I've seen in the series, it makes a good point about doing the right thing in the face of difficult circumstances and, maybe most of all, not taking any crap from crappy people. Not bad.

This is a pretty clever little episode. The loser is locked in his self imposed cell. He has failed his entire life. He is a two bit crook who does jobs when he is told. He is a bootlicker, full of fear and anxiety and self loathing. He is a throwaway and knows that some day he will be caught and put away forever. Enter his alter ego who talks to him from behind a mirror. This is his good self, his productive self. Most of the episode is a nicely done dialogue between man and image. It gets at the roots of the problem. A psychologist may pick this apart and put it back together. It is about unrealized potential and reformation. It is also a very satisfying story of a man who has a chance to reclaim his soul.

The deeply human and psychological emphasis of TZ is highlighted in this claustrophobic episode. The most interesting aspect is that the man in question is a loser and a criminally bad guy but it's far from obvious whether he will come to a bad end or not. Jackie Rhoades (Joe Mantell) is a man wrestling with his worst enemy-himself of course. Confronted by his own reflection, Jackie has to face the other, better self that has been suppressed by time, by others, and by denial. Joe Mantell gives a good performance, delivering Rod Serling's almost one-actor dualogue expertly. At the grisly crossroad of being coerced into the 'job' of committing murder for a mobster ,Jackie is tormented by a less tainted self.

Rod Serling appears this time in shot above the room outlining it as a hellish, stifling spot. I hope you get to see this before 'Last Night Of A Jockey' as 'Nervous Man' is much better in the same vein.

This is not so much of a review as it is an observation. Has anyone notice the line, "Are you talking to me?" "Are you talking to me?" which is utilized in this story by a man speaking into a mirror is almost the same line which Robert De Niro utilizes (and has become a catch-phrase) years later in the movie "Taxi." This is awfully coincidental.

Regardless of the aforementioned catch-phrase, the acting is superb and the innovation of the production filming is unique for the time. Notice how employment of split-screens is not used for the production. Richard Haydn pulls off the duo road superbly. And of course, this is a Rod Serling script.

The imaginative title of this episode refers to a small time crook and full time loser Jackie Rhoades, who spends most of his days sitting in a cheap hotel room and waiting for instructions from his boss to commit crimes that he's actually too cowardly for. All his life, Jackie has been a marionette and an easy target for manipulation, abuse and taking advantage of. He never really wanted to be a criminal and now his orders even are to kill another human being. He's terrified because he knows that, with his natural attraction for bad luck, the night won't end well. Whilst panicking in his hotel room, however, his own reflection in the mirror comes to life and confronts Jackie with his own pathetic self. The mirror man claims to be more the courageous, righteous and self-confident version of himself and pushes Jackie to trades places. Admittedly the synopsis of this tale sounds silly and unspectacular, but it's really a compelling and ingenious concept. The dialogues between Jackie and his reflection cleverly illustrate the daily battles between right and wrong that occur in everybody's consciousness, and show how difficult it can be to make the correct decisions or to resist sinful temptations. In fact, this episode is kind of like the mature version of the little angel and little devil that appear on the shoulders of cartoon characters! The story relies for a large part on the solid acting performance of Joe Mantell, but there are a couple of memorable other aspects, like a few ingenious camera angles (the whole hotel room filmed from the ceiling POV, for example) and a nice visual effect with a rapidly spinning mirror. Also, and I truly wonder if Martin Scorsese is aware of this, there's a remarkable sequence in which Jackie Rhoades looks at himself in the mirror and repeats a few times: "Are you talking to me?" You must be talking to me!" Only sixteen years later, a very similar sequence would grow out to be one of the most recognized moments in cinematic history, namely when a young Robert DeNiro talks to himself in "Taxi Driver".

The smalltime crook Jackie Rhoades is a 34 year-old loser that lives in a cheap room in a low-budget hotel. He is waiting for his boss George to acknowledge his next job. When George arrives, Jackie learns that he must kill a bar owner that refuses to pay for protection to George and his gang. Soon his conscience appears in the mirror and questions his choices in life, warning that if he kills the man, he will climb to the next level in the criminal career. What will Jackie do?

"Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room" is another great episode of "The Twilight Zone". The discussion of Jackie Rhoades with his conscience is excellent and the conclusion is excellent. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room"

Way before the three strikes law. And the Deniro 'You talkin' to me?" was surely swiped from this episode of TZ.

Two-bit criminal Jackie Rhoades (Joe Mantell) yearns to be taken seriously by his boss George (William D. Gordon), but when he is given the opportunity to prove his mettle by killing a troublesome bar-owner, the nervous hoodlum has second thoughts. As the deadline for the hit draws ever nearer, Jackie is confronted by his reflection in the hotel room mirror, the good side of his personality demanding to be in control.

Virtually a one-man-show, Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room boasts an excellent performance from Mantell as the man desperate to overcome his cowardly nature, but the episode lacks a satisfying conclusion. The finalé, in which the good part of Rhoades' personality switches places with his weaselly side and puts George in his place, is far too contrived: having received a punch on the jaw from Jackie, George let's the man go free, presumably to live a better life. In reality, we know that George would have Jackie swimming with the fishes within the hour.

Not the most memorable of TZ episodes, but worth a look for the strong acting, clever special effects and the 'You talkin' to me' scene that is highly reminiscent of Taxi Driver.

Joe Mantell plays nervous and insecure small-time crook Jackie Rhodes, who currently inhabits a cheap four dollar a night hotel room where he anxiously awaits news from his crooked boss George(played by William D. Gordon) who appears to tell him that he must commit the murder of a bar owner who wont pay protection money. Knowing that if he fails the next murder will be his own, Jackie starts to panic and begins to see in the mirror his stronger and more confident alter-ego John, who desperately tries to make Jackie listen to him, before it is too late... Interesting if thin episode has a pair of fine performances to elevate it sufficiently.

Okay entry, at best, with a different kind of ending for TZ. Maybe the conclusion's not too plausible, but it does strike an optimistic note. Jackie's a scared little man who apparently does menial gangland errands. That's except for now, when slickster boss George wants him to kill a defenseless old man. Fed up with Jackie's cringing life-style, a part of him shears off TZ-style and confronts him as a mirror reflection. Now the little man must argue with his doppelganger about how he's lived his life.

I guess symbolically we can take the double as a side of Jackie that he's suppressed for years. It's a more conventional life-style that the double's arguing for, shaming the dominant side for taking the weakest way out because he's small and insignificant looking. So how will the argument end, considering that the brutal George will soon be back expecting a dead old man from Jackie.

Fans looking for action, scene changes, or comely girls, will find little or none. It's a cast of two and a set of one. This has got to be one of the cheapest entries of the entire series. Nonetheless, Mantell does a fine job playing what amounts to two roles, but in my book the 30-minutes is more suggestive than suspenseful or memorable.

Decent acting and one(ish) man show, though the storyline didn't feel like it belonged in the twilight zone.

I haven't seen every episode of The Twilight Zone and do not remember some of them but so far this is the worst, silliest, and most boring episode I have ever seen. I know there is probably a few more duds that are worse but they will have to go a long way to beat this monstrosity. The best part of this episode was when it came to an end and I didn't have to watch it anymore. If I have to ever watch this again I will have to be paid a small fortune, that's to me how bad it was. I really think ole Rod took a vacation on this one and just wrote something to get by. It was not clever in the least. Most episodes at least have a clever twist but not this one.

I love isolation stories. The kinds of stories where a character or characters are stuck in one place, leaving nothing but character development. That's why I love movies like Life of Pi, The lighthouse, and 12 Angry Men. It is the same here.

The episode has a creative premise, which, like a lot of Rod Serling scripts, dives deep into the human soul and what it means to be alive. John represents the virtuous side of us that is there. When we get older, we battle with this virtuous side for the sake of doing things and having the things we want. We think this "better" is holding us back, but really, it's slowly making us the people we are meant to be.

That is who John is and what Jackie needed to become.

It seems to happen to all of us. We grow up and mature. We have all been on both sides of the mirror, we just need to stay on the right side.