There's
no art to find the mind's construction in the face.
Macbeth Act 1 Scene 4
And THAT quote by King Duncan from Shakespeare's Macbeth sums up the whole structure and storyline of Bad Times at The El Royale. We, the audience, have little knowledge of what is going on in this movie from moment to moment. Nothing is what it appears to be. And no one is exactly who we think they are. And that weird approach to storytelling, the lack of exposition in the first part of the story is what makes El Royale one damn interesting movie . . . but for some it might be a boring mass of sluggishness! Why? Well, because it's less an action film as it is a character study of four strangers who just happen to be in the same place at a very wrong time. And what a great cast makes up this formable ensemble, Jeff Bridges as the old priest who appears to not always be quite mentally in touch with what's going on, Cynthia Erivo as the mysterious lounge singer with an even more shady past following her, and Jon Hamm the upbeat vacuum cleaner salesman . . . or is he? There are even more characters who are EVEN MORE enigmatic, such as, the humorless, hippie chick who checks in under the nom
de plume: Fuck You.
And another aspect to this movie that might turn some folks off is the dialogue. There's a lot of it. In fact, the primary vehicle for the action is the dialogue. They talk a lot about themselves, a lot about life or at least they lie about it. Because we really can't tell if the characters are telling us the truth or not. The only way we get to the truth about what's going on with this group of people is through . . . flashbacks! The life, the truth of these souls adrift in the metaphorical ocean of the El Royale are expressed to us in flashbacks of their individual lives. But not before an action that is important to the development of the story or the plot, but afterwards as an explanation for the actions of the character. But the one character that we think is so unimportant to the story's end, that flashback . . . well, I don't want to tell you TOO much because this movie needs to be experienced by audience and not gossiped about in a review!
So, El Royale is a challenging movie for the audience. It asks you to listen and watch and not be worried about NOT understanding what is going on . . . just enjoy the weird-ass ride that Bad Times at the El Royale offers the audience.
Grade: 98% = A+
And another aspect to this movie that might turn some folks off is the dialogue. There's a lot of it. In fact, the primary vehicle for the action is the dialogue. They talk a lot about themselves, a lot about life or at least they lie about it. Because we really can't tell if the characters are telling us the truth or not. The only way we get to the truth about what's going on with this group of people is through . . . flashbacks! The life, the truth of these souls adrift in the metaphorical ocean of the El Royale are expressed to us in flashbacks of their individual lives. But not before an action that is important to the development of the story or the plot, but afterwards as an explanation for the actions of the character. But the one character that we think is so unimportant to the story's end, that flashback . . . well, I don't want to tell you TOO much because this movie needs to be experienced by audience and not gossiped about in a review!
So, El Royale is a challenging movie for the audience. It asks you to listen and watch and not be worried about NOT understanding what is going on . . . just enjoy the weird-ass ride that Bad Times at the El Royale offers the audience.
Grade: 98% = A+
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