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Four Rooms (2004)

Twelve outrageous guests. Four scandalous requests. And one lone bellhop.

Rating: 5/10

Running Time: 98 minutes

UK Certificate: 15

On DVD

Tim Roth minces camply round the corridors of a fizzled-out hotel in this hit-and-miss assembly of shorts from a hit-and-miss assembly of directors.

As Ted the bellhop, the mugging Roth is by far the most watchable thing about this bizarre flick, whether he’s staring nervously down the barrel of a gun, frantically attempting to keep a pair of meddlesome kiddies in check, or lending his “man juice” to a coven of scantily-clad witches (Madonna among them).

Unfortunately, taken as a whole, ‘Four Rooms’ is effectively little more than a self-congratulating showcase for the varying directorial talents of Quentin Tarantino and three of his buddies. As the title suggests, four different stories take place in four of the hotel’s rooms: in ‘The Missing Ingredient’, Allison Anders struggles to make any point of her witchy-women scenario; Alexandre Rockwell brings us a similarly nonsensical tale of a jealous husband in ‘The Wrong Man’; Robert Rodriguez provides easily the best segment with the comical ‘The Misbehavers’; Tarantino himself gets all dialogue-heavy with some tripe about a ciggy-lighter and a finger in ‘The Man From Hollywood’. None of the four tales link particularly well, and the clunky switches between shooting styles can make for an uneven viewing experience.

The good thing is it’s all fairly light-hearted stuff, and Roth isn’t the only performer appearing with tongue-in-cheek. Antonio Banderas delivers a cracking little self-parody as a grumpy parent, Tarantino goes gleefully OTT as a Tinsel Town big-shot, and even Bruce Willis gets in on the act as a Hollywood hanger-on. It’s worth a visit, if not a stay.

It's Got: A mini bar and free shower caps.

It Needs: Room service.

DVD Extras Four Rooms. No special features. DVD Extras Rating: 0/10

Summary

Worth checking in for a look – but you probably won’t want to make a habit of it.