Review of Four Rooms (1995) by Spencer S — 26 Jun 2012

Four Rooms is an enigmatic and so eccentric film that cobbles together the styling of many creative voices, all for a film that is deranged beyond recognition. Written and directed by four different directors and beautifully coalescing thanks to a brilliant performance from chameleon Tm Roth, the film is separated by four different rooms.

Each room is directed by a different director including Alexandre Rockwell, Allison Anders, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez. Each has a unique voice within the film, while all delineated back to controlled chaos, culminating in the glorious end that only Tarantino can give.

Besides also boasting such a great set of young Hollywood directors it also contains some amazing performances from some of the best actors at the time including Marisa Tomei, Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Beals, Bruce Willis, and Madonna.

Each gives us a taste of the odd, the extremity of the party lifestyle, the atmosphere of the hotel, and it centers on the most interesting, no nonsense, character who can be easily swayed with cash advancement.

Rockwell focuses on the underlying tension of dysfunctional relationships, Anders shows the extremes of the feminine mystique and its reach in our culture, Rodriguez goes all out and plays worst case scenario, using children as foils to the bellhop (Roth) while also creating realistic and yet flawed characters, and Tarantino is Tarantino through and through.

He uses long, uncut shots, his regular of cast of characters, and even puts himself in the scene as the big shot, the movie star among the treacherous bunch in his hotel room. Though the film was hit hard by critics it has resonated with fans because of its beatific quality, its amazing set of characters with extraordinary problems and out of this world circumstances.

Truly worth a look into the pysches of four astounding directors and writers.