The Million Dollar Hotel
The Million Dollar Hotel ★★ 1999 (R)
Director Wenders displays his obsession with disposable Americana in this tale of the murder of an entertainment mogul's son in a sleazy, run-down hotel. FBI special agent Skinner (Gibson) is sent to investigate and discovers a group of oddballs and losers inhabit the hotel, including mildly retarded narrator Tom Tom (Davies), intellectual hooker Eloise (Jovovich), creepy artist Geronimo (Smits), and self-proclaimed “fifth Beatle” Dixie (Stormare). Skinner carries on the investigation by spying on the tenants and making life even more miserable for them. The scattered storyline is countered somewhat by Wenders always brilliant visual style, but the performances are mixed, with Gibson giving the only notable performance. Bono, lead singer for the rock group U2, allegedly came up with the original idea for the film, as the hotel used in the movie was the one on which U2 performed in the video for “Where the Streets Have No Name.” 122m/C VHS, DVD . US Conrad Roberts, Mel Gibson, Jeremy Davies, Milla Jovovich, Jimmy Smits, Peter Stormare, Amanda Plummer, Gloria Stuart, Tom Bower, Donal Logue, Bud Cort, Julian Sands, Tim Roth, Richard Edson, Harris Yulin, Charlaine Woodard; D: Wim Wenders; W: Nicholas Klein; C: Phedon Papamichael; M: Brian Eno, Bono, Daniel Lanois, John Hassell.