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The Motel Life

Play trailer Poster for The Motel Life R 2013 1h 25m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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70% Tomatometer 43 Reviews 42% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
The hardscrabble lives of two brothers (Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff) reach a breaking point when one accidentally runs over and kills a bicycle rider.

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The Motel Life

The Motel Life

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Critics Consensus

The Motel Life transcends its frustratingly uneven screenplay with some outstanding work from a talented cast.

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Critics Reviews

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Kate Muir The Times (UK) 01/01/2018
The film is more downbeat than tense, interweaves animation sequences, and perhaps worked better in the original novel. Go to Full Review
Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard 04/04/2014
3/5
The whole thing is deep-down conservative and wetter than a Labrador's kiss. Go to Full Review
Geoffrey Macnab Independent (UK) 04/04/2014
3/5
The rambling plot may resemble a lyric from a mawkish country song but the film-makers bring an engaging mix of tenderness and grit to the downbeat material. Go to Full Review
Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens 01/07/2020
Storytelling at its finest, The Motel Life is a deep reflection on the human condition and brotherly love. Go to Full Review
Bernard Boo Way Too Indie 04/10/2019
7.6/10
The Motel Life feels a little too down-in-the-dumps for its own good at times, but sparks of energy supplied by Hirsch and Dorff illuminate an otherwise dreary film. Go to Full Review
Pat Padua Spectrum Culture 08/31/2018
2/5
Too often veers from the road by misguided design. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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09/28/2020 Great movie to watch on the week with your fam bam See more 09/10/2020 The animated narrated stories bugged me. Bad ending. Bad movie, really. See more 11/03/2018 This is a good movie, but will definitely bore a lot of people. It's very slow pace, but tells a nice story of 2 brothers that are very poor and who look out for each other. Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff both do a good job with their characters. I was surprised and disappointed that this is the only feature Film the Polsky brothers have done. They definitely need to get back to making movies. This movie shows a lot of talent with both of them. See more 12/24/2016 The story of two orphan and strongly bonded brothers. I have been set eye on this for some time, but only now I been able to see it. It was not as good as I expected, but an okay film. The story of two brothers who were orphaned at very young age and since then they have never been parted as they promised to their mother. Now grown up to adult, one of them commits an accident and decides to run away with it. When the law makes the progress on the case that leads to them, what's now and how they fight it was focused in the rest. Very ordinary screenplay. Feels like a bit realistic, but there's nothing much happening at all. Thanks to those additional animations which actually lifted the film a bit. I loved those sequences over the real film. So this for the first directional film for the Polsky brothers and they were okay. I liked the cast of the brothers. apart from them there's no one that impressive. The romance was very weak, though only the ending was high. I don't know the novel, it was based on, but the film lacked some good scenes or the events. Not just one or two, but in many parts the film should have been better. They should have altered the storyline from the original source. Especially the fate of amputated brother was too intentional as story wanted to end other way around. It was all the sudden and ruined the rhythm. The film is not good for everyone's viewing, so I suggest you be a careful if you want to try it. 5/10 See more 08/29/2016 The dark indie drama The Motel Life is a macabre tale that's pointless and depressing. Based on a novel, two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee Flannigan, are a couple of lowlifes living out of motels and cars who go on the run after killing a kid in a hit-and-run. The film has strong themes of living in regret and brotherly love, but the characters are unsympathetic degenerates. Starring Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff, and Dakota Fanning, the cast is pretty decent; however their performances are bland and uninspired. The directing is also an issue and is rather static; aside from randomly inserted animated sequences whenever Frank tells his brother a story. The Model Life is a largely forgettable film that doesn't really have anything to say. See more 08/26/2016 Well made, but flat. See more Read all reviews
The Motel Life

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Movie Info

Synopsis The hardscrabble lives of two brothers (Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff) reach a breaking point when one accidentally runs over and kills a bicycle rider.
Director
Alan Polsky, Gabe Polsky
Producer
Gabe Polsky, Ann Ruark, Alan Polsky
Screenwriter
Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster
Production Co
Polsky Films
Rating
R (Language|Drug References|Brief Violent Images|Sexual Content|Some Nudity)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 8, 2013, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 13, 2015
Runtime
1h 25m
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