28 Hotel Rooms (DVD Review)
5 Mar, 2013 By: Angelique FloresOscilloscope
Drama
Box Office $0.02 million
$29.98 DVD
Not rated.
Stars Chris Messina, Marin Ireland.
Just two actors and 28 hotel rooms. With that set-up, a lot rests on those two actors. But they deliver, with powerful and captivating performances in this unique romantic drama.
He (played by Chris Messina of Argo and “The Newsroom”) is a successful novelist, and she (played by Marin Ireland of “Boss”) is equally successful in finance. She lives in Seattle, and he lives in New York. They meet while on the road for work, having what she thought would be a forgotten one-night stand.
But he leaves his number, and she ends up calling, starting a relationship that can’t stop. They end up getting married to other people, but the magnetic pull they have toward each other doesn’t go away.
He wants to be more involved with her, even suggesting that she leave her husband. She feels guilty and compartmentalizes her relationship with him, understanding the risk of getting too emotionally involved or worse, getting caught.
The relationship quickly morphs from being about sex to being a profound, intimate bond between two people who love each other. She too starts to consider leaving her husband to be with him.
The long-term love affair between them unfolds in a series of vignettes that take place in 28 different hotel rooms over the years. Each presents an authentic and stark look at the real emotions that arise during a relationship — from lust, playfulness and vulnerability to intimacy, heartache, jealousy and anger. The sex feels real and raw as do the explosive arguments and tender moments of intimacy and love.
The story is further fleshed out with the deleted scenes, which offer more details about the relationship, as well as some subplots the filmmakers chose to leave out.
The featurette with director Matt Ross during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival offers another interesting peek of the filmmaking process.