The Motel (2005)

Comedy / Drama

1 hr. 16 min.

Indie coming-of-age film cut from the Wes Anderson mold, about a working-class Chinese-American boy who learns about life from an older Korean man.

Not Rated

Directed by: Michael Kang

Starring: Jeffrey Chyau, Sung Kang, Jade Wu, Samantha Futerman, Alexis Chang

Theatrical Release Date: 6/28/2006

Release Type: NY

U.S. Box Office: $49,243

Video/DVD Release Date: 1/30/2007

Distributor: Palm Pictures

Country: USA

Language: English

Offsite: IMDB | Official Site

CRITIC	RATING	QUOTE
New York Post V. A. Musetto	7	Coming-of-age dramas are a dime a dozen, but Kang manages to keep The Motel fresh while building sympathy for his characters...
TV Guide Ken Fox	8	...a marvelously assured feature debut...
Slant Magazine Ed Gonzalez	7	Like Jared Hess before him, director Michael Kang is the new kid on the block who wants to play inside Wes Anderson's clubhouse.
New York Times Stephen Holden	7	...a small, perfectly observed portrait...
Los Angeles Times Sam Adams	7	...a well-worn coming-of-age tale enlivened by pungent detail and a sharp visual sense.
LA Weekly Tim Grierson	8	...even if writer-director Michael Kang doesn’t exactly break new ground, he imbues his debut with a quiet, compelling inertia that mimics puberty’s rudderless drift, its burgeoning desire for something, anything, to change.
Village Voice Michael Atkinson	5	...the underwhelming syncopation of make-nice clichés is too familiar.
Onion AV Club Nathan Rabin	8	Like the best independent films, The Motel realizes that life is made up of minor pleasures and tiny epiphanies, not sweeping character arcs or big dramatic moments.

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This movie is available on DVD/Video

ALL AVERAGE CRITIC RATING	7.1
AVERAGE USER RATING (1 rating)	6.0

USER REVIEWS:

Oracle 6

A New Director, A New Film...

Grade: B-

In this new film, at the Film Forum, we see the lives of Ernest, his Dorky freinds, His Mother (An Excellent part by Jade Wu), and all of the people that he knows.

"The Motel is a nice film, but it never gets past that feeling of a plain, and not so interesting movie.

The acting from Jeffrey Chyau is insipidly dumb, and does not make you like this movie anymore then where your opinion originally began.

Sung Kang plays an older Korean man named Sam, who teached Ernest how to drive, and other small things. This role is very enjoyable, and to see Sung Kang yell, and curse, makes the audience stay in their seats.

As Ernest's mother, Jade Wu plays an Outstanding role. Her accent is thick, and her pathos is none.

"Ernest Wata u doin'?

"Somone droped their Credit Card, i am giving it back"

"Ahhhh Stupit people".

But after the Q&A session with Micheal Kang, I realized that his effort to make his dream come true was tough, and that as a first timer, it wasnt so bad.

-Oracle