Geeks logo

Spoiled Rotten - 'Bad Times at the El Royale' (2018)

Rants and Raves for Those of Us Who Saw the Movie and Anyone Else Who Wants to Jump into the Fray

By Glen KennerPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
Like
Yes, that's Chris Hemsworth.  Seriously.  It is.

TL:WR—A bunch of bad people, and a few good as well, get violently killed over a bag of money and a mysterious film. But why? 3.5 STARS.

One big spoiler, coming up!

Bad Times at the El Royale is a movie for lovers of film noir, and for lovers of tightly-written, smoothly played out scenes, and for lovers of the music of Motown. And even for lovers of Chris Hemsworth’s abs. But it is not a movie for anyone looking for a perfectly wrapped up story with all the loose ends neatly trimmed and tucked away, because that ain’t this flick.

Drew Goddard wrote and directed Bad Times at the El Royale and he may be new to big screen fatalism, but he knows how to write suspense with snark. He wrote and directed The Cabin in the Woods (2012) and has a ton of experience writing in the same vein for TV (Buffy, Angel, Alias, Lost, and more). So the guy’s got talent. The trailers alone show that, and I’m guessing that’s what is getting a lot of movie goers into the seats, though casting Jeff Bridges and Chris Hemsworth doesn’t hurt. Nonetheless, Goddard opens the film with a mystery that he never solves. If you’ve seen the movie, you thought he was going to solve it, didn’t you? You spent the entirety of the movie, almost two and half hours worth, thinking the answer would be revealed. Even if, as it was so easy and fun to do, you get caught up in the Tarantino-esque vignettes of each character, which were seriously good, you still kept the question in the back of your mind: who killed Ron Swanson? Well, Nick Offerman, who to be fair is starting to outgrow his defining role from Parks and Recreation. Offerman, as Felix, is shot in the back at the beginning of the film after arriving with two bags—one filled with tools and the other a mystery only later revealed—and prying up and replacing the floorboards to hide the mystery bag. Felix obviously knew his killer; he opened the hotel door, greeted him, invited him in, and turned his back on him—all in complete trust. The killer must have been a member of the gang. Was he “the kid,” who severely injured the armored truck drivers? Was he a member of the other gang briefly mentioned by Bridges’ character Dock/Father Flynn? Regardless, how was it that the killer didn’t find the money? He would have found the bag of tools which would have told him the money was in the walls or the floor. After all, Dock knew the money was in the floor, he just couldn’t remember which room. I’m agitated that this mystery was left unsolved, so let’s move along so I can calm down.

Are there any actors in Bad Times at the El Royale that aren’t about as perfect as an actor can be? Jeff Bridges as the aging, early dementia-addled ex-con/priest is played so understatedly well that we instantly take a liking to him and hope he gets out alive. The same goes for the excellent performance of Cynthia Erivo as the talented but not quite talented enough Darlene Sweet, who we root for even as we’re wondering if she’s more than just a backup Motown singer past her prime. Jon Hamm is brilliant as the annoying vacuum salesman who on a dime transforms in front of our eyes into the epitome of the 1960s G-man and even takes it a step further by disobeying immoral orders to ignore the kidnapping he inadvertently discovers. Dakota Johnson and Cailee Spaeny as sisters Emily and Rose are so convincing that you want a movie of their story, especially their lives with Chris Hemsworth’s charismatic yet violently narcissistic portrayal of cult leader Billy Lee, who apparently is not only responsible for seducing the barely teenage Rose, but also the series of grisly murders highlighted on the television in the hotel lobby. And then there’s newcomer Lewis Pullman (son of Bill Pullman) as the hotel heroin addicted jack of all trades Miles Miller, except that unlike the traditional jack of all trades who is a master of none, Miles is a master. He has the eye and steady trigger finger to have killed 123 enemy soldiers in Vietnam and, thankfully, a few more people in the final scene of the movie before getting gutted by young Rose—a foreshadowed killing that the audience sees coming as soon as Miles reaches tenderly for Rose.

Which brings us back to the mystery of who killed Felix. It’s tempting to label it a MacGuffin. After all, director Goddard will be compared to Tarantino who unforgettably used a briefcase containing something so mysterious (and brightly glowing) that hired killers murdered a few college kids to get it back. Yet the briefcase worked for Tarantino because the contents didn’t set the movie in motion. It was the failure to use or return the contents that must have kicked off the chain of events in Pulp Fiction. Whomever killed Felix in Bad Times at the El Royale walked away from the money after shooting him in the back. If it was Goddard’s intention to emulate Hitchcock with a misdirect, he picked too big of a scene. And if he simply made an omission in the script or cut the scene, well hell, we’ll just have to enjoy everything he did do right. Which is a lot. Thankfully.

That’s my take on Bad Times at the El Royale. What do you think?

review
Like

About the Creator

Glen Kenner

Novelist & short story writer Glen Kenner lives in St Louis, Missouri, with his wife, cats and books. Years spent in sales has made his skin insanely thick and able to withstand all criticism.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.