The Motel Life is not your average movie, nor is it your average modern indie film. It definitely made quite an impression on both my wife and me. It reminded us of the gusty old indie films of the 1990’s. It has a grittiness and griminess to it that is disarmingly pure. You are immersed in a slowly simmering stew of shit motels, dive bars, dilapidated apartments, seedy casinos, crap-ass sedans, and the cold, bleak streets of Reno, Nevada, but somehow the movie resists overwhelming you with all this. The lead and supporting roles are all well-conceived and cast wonderfully, and as an ensemble they capture with depressing verisimilitude the spectrum of broken souls that congregate in gambling towns. At the same time, the film has a certain artistic ballsiness to it, devoting large amounts of time to narrated, line-drawn animation sequences illustrating the fantastical stories the main character tells to his invalid, mentally impaired brother, to sooth his tortured psyche. As an indie film, it really is like a time machine to 1994!

There’s a peaceful quietness about this movie, as it explores the sometimes painful tension between family obligation and personal dreams without ever taking sides on the issue. The main character has been burdened with his mother’s death-bed wish that he and his brother always stay together (meaning he always be his brother’s caretaker,) a wish that he has internalized to a very unhealthy degree, and honored well into adulthood. At the same time he’s had a brief glimpse of an appealing, alternate direction in which his life could have gone (with his adored ex-girlfriend Dakota Fanning), and has been encouraged to prioritize his own life going forward (by “mentor” Kris Kristofferson). When his brother accidentally kills someone in a hit and run, the existing paradigm of his life starts to fall apart, despite his frantic efforts to cling to it in desperation. In the end, he must in some way come to terms with his feelings and with events he can do nothing about.

I think The Motel Life is well worth seeing. Unlike most modern indie films, it’s not excessively literal, and it gives the viewer a lot of space to observe and take in the significant emotional content it’s offering. It’s paced well, filmed skillfully, has interesting dialog, and the narrated, animated story sequences are really wonderful. In short, it’s a very nicely crafted story, told extremely well – definitely one of the better films I’ve seen this year.

As with most films opening at Cinema Village, The Motel Life was gone after one week. But be sure to Netflix it when it comes out.