Michael's Movie Grade: B
Review: A very good looking and suspenseful movie. Not every story element worked and there were parts that came off as rather weak, but what was good was really good.
This is definitely one of the most visually appealing movies of the year. The sets, the cinematography and the amazing use of color are fantastic. Now that black and white movies are quite rare, it is also rare for a film to use color to its advantage. When one watches a Disney cartoon of the 1930's or a Hitchcock movie from the 1950's, one is amazed and mesmerized by how great color is used in these films. The color not only looks great but it helps tell the story and the emotions of the character. Now that color movies are taken for granted there is too little of this in modern cinema. This film is an exception. The color looks amazing. Even a simple idea of the California side of the hotel being in one color and the Nevada side being in a different strikes the viewers interest. Also there are parts of the hotel that are less colorful then others. As some of the darker scenes take place in these parts the use of color brings us further into the emotion of the film. Drew Goodard proves himself as a great stylistic director of the type that is rare in Hollywood today.
The cast in this movie is incredible. Jeff Bridges gives a performance that is really charming, while still giving us reason to not fully trust this character. Cynthia Erivo gets to show off both her acting chops and her amazing singing voice to great advantage. Young Cailee Spaeny gives an absorbing performance, that is genuinely creepy. The whole cast is fantastic and helped make this far farfetched story much more believable.
The story is quite absorbing for the most part. The suspense is real and there were quite a few plot twists I did not see coming. On the other hand is the character of Billy Lee. Though played quite well but Chris Hemsworth, the character never feels as real or developed as the other characters. He instead plays as what I call a movie stereotype and quite a forced one at that. Sadly he plays a huge part in the climax of this film cutting much into the believability and emotion of this scene. This makes the climax disappointing after all that has come before. Still all that has come before has been good enough to recommend this film.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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