Recommendation: Bad Times at the El Royale
This movie came out on DVD recently and I picked it up because I like retro 60s/70s noirish crime movies, and for Jeff Bridges, who is always interesting to watch. The setting is a gaudy but rundown, tourist-trap motel that straddles the California/Nevada border and had seen better days before losing its gambling license. A motley collection of guests arrive, most of them with an illicit hidden agenda, not unlike the motel itself.
The story moves well, and the guests are intriguing: an obnoxious vacuum-cleaner salesman, an R&B singer looking for her big break, an aging priest with memory problems, and an ass-kicking tough girl. By the time the viewer learns what's really going on with them, however, Chris Hemsworth shows up and slows down the pace to a crawl. But that's ok because it was a fun ride until then.
Ultimately, the main reason I recommend this movie is the performance of a young actor who I think is going to be a great talent. Lewis Pullman plays the motel's pathetic desk clerk, masterfully juggling conflicting impulses of innocence and corruption, cynicism and idealism. He gives a highly expressive and well-controlled performance that even seasoned actors would envy, quietly stealing every scene he's in. Turns out, he's the son of actor Bill Pullman and as such is one of the best arguments for nepotism in the movie industry.