Hotel de Love (1997)

Hotel de Love is an obscure comedy from Australian writer-director Craig Rosenberg that is worth the wait after an initial slow start. What begins like just another teen angst whine fest suddenly becomes positively Shakespearian fun in the tradition of Midsummer Night's Dream, with twin brothers trapped by a lost early love for all the wrong reasons.When the gal of their dreams shows up ten years later with her fiancée at a bizarre honeymoon hotel, the twins start a mad campaign for her affections and haul the audience along with them. The twin's dysfunctional parents are added to the mixups as guests of the hotel along with one brother's hotel palm reader girlfriend.The actors probably save what could have been just a remake of half a dozen late fifties or early sixties Hollywood comedies, but the film is written fast and is self-satirical and punctuated with whacky sets and excellent music choices.Australian actor Simon Bossell stars as the obsessed brother who never gets the girl. American sci-fi audiences might recognize him from a guest shot on Farscape in the 2nd season's "A Clockwork Nebari" episode. His frantic physical comedy steals most of the movie.Saffron Burrows is the object of obsession. Burrows is a promising British actress who played Dr. Susan McCallister opposite the likes of Thomas Jane, LL Cool J, Michael Rapaport and Samuel L. Jackson in Renny Harlin's flawed underwater thriller Deep Blue Sea (1999) and also co-starred with Freddie Prinze Jr. in the much more unexciting Wing Commander the same year.She's very good here, however, reminiscent of Paula Prentiss and Geena Davis. Obviously an actress in need of a good script.Aden Young also does OK as the brother who wins Saffron in the end. He's a Canadian actor who looks like Farscape's Ben Browder, but he's not quite as funny.The Farscape connections are interesting though, because one reason this film may eventually acquire cult status in the future is a brief bit part topless scene with Australian actress Raelee Hill, who was Farscape's Sikozu (2002-2003). Male Scapers won't be disappointed, believe me.

I have watched many films from Down Under and tremendously enjoyed most of them. Australian films havea distinct "flavour"; probably part of it comes from theaccent!!! However, the title of this one did not even attractme at first but I thought I'd give it a try after reading a shortreview of the film in some magazine. And I'm glad I did. Inspite of all the "kitsch", it was certainly a good watch........itactually left a pleasant aftertaste! In fact, it would not havebeen as good without the "kitsch". Well played out by theactors/actresses.....a memorable one being the piano player/hotel owner with his songs.

Warning: If you haven't seen this movie, there might be a spoiler in here.Here's the spoiler: In the end everybody is happy! Hope I didn't give anything away there.This is a movie that I would put in a very special category. It may not be the most well made, or well acted movie. It certainly doesn't have the best script. It isn't the funniest movie I've seen, and it isn't the most romantic. But that doesn't matter. I still loved this movie. Some movies weren't meant to be analyzed, they were just meant to be enjoyed.Now on to the plot. The story revolves around twin brothers Stephen and Rick Dunne. Both brothers fall for the same girl when they are teenagers. She moves away and ten years pass. In those ten years, Stephen obsesses over her, and Rick gets stood up at the altar. They all meet again at a tacky hotel where Rick is the manager, and the chase is on.Aside from being a very attractive woman, Melissa never gave me any reason why a person should be in love with her for 10 years. She was just sort of there. Allison, on the other hand, is a person I could see a guy fussing about for way more then 10 years. I loved how Ronny had the perfect song for every occasion in the film. And I still get chills every time I watch that last frame of the movie when the two lovers just say "Hi" to each other.I give this movie a 9/10 just for the sheer reason that I have seen it well over 25 times and I still love watching it every time.

Most romantic comedies these days seem content to get by on charm, but this is genuinely funny and romantic, despite the somewhat gaudy setting of a honeymoon hotel. Although there are quite a few flourishes (like the piano player playing kitsch 70's hits and being the one everyone talks to), it's grounded in real passions and feelings, which also helps the comedy. I especially like the scene between Melissa and Rick where they tell the truth to each other. I didn't know any of the actors in this movie except Saffron Burrows (who I hope goes on to bigger things), but they were all excellent as well.