Nope, the festival season isn't over yet. The Rome Film Festival gets underway this weekend, and our Jessica Kiang will be on the ground fueled on espressos and cinemas to bring us coverage. But before that, we've got a few sneaks at some of the movies coming up, and the first is from "The Motel Life."
Don't worry if you forgot about this movie, it was over a year ago when we last reported anything on it, but it stars the promising trio of Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff in the thriller based on the novel by Willy Vlautin about two brothers who, following a fatal hit-and-run accident, flee their Reno motel room. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster penned the screenplay with Alan and Gabriel Polsky directing. Here's the official synopsis:
The Motel Life explores the intense bond between two brothers living on the fringes of Reno, Nevada. Orphaned early, they grew up depending on their big imaginations to escape the challenges of their transient life. When one of the brothers is involved in a fatal accident, it forces both of them to chose between running away or facing reality. It is a story of brotherhood, shared dreams and the redemptive power of hope.
The film features music by The Kills, Townes Van Zandt, Justin Townes Earle, Marty Stuart and more. As is usual with many festival flicks, no distribution or release date yet for this one.
I think I commented on this awhile back when I read the description. Anyone who read the book would be very surprised by the description "thriller". I'm assuming though that the tone was changed in the adaptation to give the movie story more forward momentum.
I absolutely love the book (and Vlautin's novel Northline too) so it's a bit disappointing to think that the nuance and emotional depth that made it so great might be lost in favor of an easier-to-market boys on the run thriller. Is that really the official word for this? "Thriller"? Oh well, I'll still check it out based on loving the novel and I like most of Emile Hirsch's choices.