Bad Times at the El Royale

Rarely has a movie lived up to its wry title to the degree this film does. Drew Goddard’s new neo-noir flick serves up lots of bad times for its characters. The movie’s audience has a much better time. One of the film’s strengths is that it’s its own thing. It’s not a sequel or a remake or part of a franchise. It’s a wonder such movies even get funded in today’s climate. Along that line of thought, it’s worth pointing out that 20th Century Fox green-lit the film before they were recently purchased by the Walt Disney company. Would this film have been made by Walt Disney? Probably not.

Bad Times opens in 1959, with something being buried underneath the floorboards of a hotel room. That stranger is quickly murdered. The film then jumps to 1969, where a coterie of guests individually congregate to the run-down, once popular El Royale, built literally on the borderline of California and Nevada. First appearing are Darlene Sweet (the fantastic and multi-talented Cynthia Erivo), a lounge singer trying to find a cheap place to stay before a gig; Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges) an amiable priest; and vacuum salesman Dwight Broadbeck (Jon Hamm, playing a countrified version of his Mad Men persona).

Some of these characters, and others, may or may not be who they first represent themselves to be. That includes the hotel’s sole employee, Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman), the kidnapping Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson), Cailee Spaeny as Emily’s sister, Rose, and Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth), a flamboyant and dangerous cross between Jim Morrison and Charles Manson. All of these intriguing characters’ goals eventually overlap; alliances are made, intentions are revealed.

The risk of spoiling necessitates not revealing the plot, but part of what makes Bad Times so enjoyable are incidental details: the’60s tracks played on an antique Wurlitzer; Cynthia Erivo’s beautiful singing voice; Dwight’s past life, vividly written and directed; the musty ambiance of the hotel itself, a decaying casino with mysterious nooks and crannies.

Bad Times‘ structure and themes aren’t hidden: Quentin Tarantino (along with the requisite Tarantino violence), Agatha Christie and John Huston’s Key Largo are three sources which come to mind. Bad Times uses the mythology and particulars of the late ’60s, incorporating J. Edgar Hoover and the Vietnam War. At 141 minutes, the film is a slow burn, but though you may be reminded of earlier works, Bad Times keeps you guessing with its unique take on noir conventions and actors who go the extra mile in bringing stock characters to life.

—Michael R. Neno, 2018 Nov 05