Could this be the next big cult film? It was panned on it's initial release, and now it is slowly gathering a few followers who can see the perfect insanity of it all. Maybe it's the combination of Bono, with Wim Wenders and Mel Gibson thrown into it. Or maybe it's the whole damn mess of it that makes it so weird and fascinating.
I think the whole premise of the story began with Bono's interest with a hotel full of down and outs. These weird and wonderful characters have a lot to offer for a story and Bono decided to tell it, with the help of Wenders. Midway through the movie, I realized that this was a song with images, with surreal verses and a chorus about America and the peculiar characters that inhabit it.
I can forgive it for its clumsy story structure, but that's what gives it a little more interest. The main thrust of the story are the characters. All the elements are there, a hyperactive kid who sees the world differently, a young girl lost in the world of books, a Detective with serious issues and a whole bunch of characters that make up this crazy world we live in. There is also a mystery death, secret lives, stolen art, and masks to hide behind. All is not what it seems in the Million Dollar Hotel, and it will never be.
My favorite bit will have to be when Mel Gibson's character, Detective Skinner, reveals the scars on his back from a major surgery, apparently from a third arm that was growing out of it. But to me those scars represent the angel wings that were clipped from him (yes, I'm thinking of Wender's classic Wings OF Desire). To me Skinner was an angel lost in this world and attempting to help the lost souls in this hotel. There were too many souls to help, but at least one will walk away from it all with something to gain, thanks to Skinner.
To some, this will be a curious piece of where Wim Wenders went wrong. To others, it will be their little cult film.
I think the whole premise of the story began with Bono's interest with a hotel full of down and outs. These weird and wonderful characters have a lot to offer for a story and Bono decided to tell it, with the help of Wenders. Midway through the movie, I realized that this was a song with images, with surreal verses and a chorus about America and the peculiar characters that inhabit it.
I can forgive it for its clumsy story structure, but that's what gives it a little more interest. The main thrust of the story are the characters. All the elements are there, a hyperactive kid who sees the world differently, a young girl lost in the world of books, a Detective with serious issues and a whole bunch of characters that make up this crazy world we live in. There is also a mystery death, secret lives, stolen art, and masks to hide behind. All is not what it seems in the Million Dollar Hotel, and it will never be.
My favorite bit will have to be when Mel Gibson's character, Detective Skinner, reveals the scars on his back from a major surgery, apparently from a third arm that was growing out of it. But to me those scars represent the angel wings that were clipped from him (yes, I'm thinking of Wender's classic Wings OF Desire). To me Skinner was an angel lost in this world and attempting to help the lost souls in this hotel. There were too many souls to help, but at least one will walk away from it all with something to gain, thanks to Skinner.
To some, this will be a curious piece of where Wim Wenders went wrong. To others, it will be their little cult film.