Biggest little movie

Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff convincingly play solemn brothers in The Motel Life, a solid adaptation of the critically praised, Reno-based novel by Willy Vlautin. Fans of the novel might notice some distinct changes, but the “sometimes bad luck hits you” and brotherly themes of the novel remain strongly intact.

Frank Lee (Hirsch) is sleeping off his latest drunk in a seedy Reno hotel room when half-naked brother Jerry (Dorff) enters the room shivering and bawling. On a cold winter’s night, Jerry has accidentally run over and killed a boy, and he’s begging to get out of town. Frank hears the story, vomits, and then agrees to take a drive.

A string of bad decisions and actions follow, and a lesser made film might’ve been too dark and depressing to take. Thankfully, directing brothers Alan and Gabe Polsky combine beautifully shot images with stellar performances to keep things rolling in a way that keeps us rooting for the brothers.

When their travels bring them back to Reno, the film features a wonderfully cast Joshua Leonard as a bad gambler who, nonetheless, makes a good recommendation to Frank. He talks him into betting on the infamous Tyson-Douglas fight. I also bet on this fight back in the day, and I don’t remember the odds being as high as they are in this film at fight time (40-1!).

One element that is played more than in the novel is Frank’s tendency to tell his brother grandly exaggerated, made-up stories. For these stories, the film employs some good-looking animation by Mike Smith that reminded me of the great Gerald Scarfe’s animated contributions to Pink Floyd: The Wall.

It’s nice to see Dorff, a potentially great actor who has never really found his place in Hollywood, getting a role that matches his talents. Dorff captivates as Jerry, a man missing a leg due to an accident in his youth, an injury that has affected his entire adult life. He’s a scared, scarred man with a good heart that can’t handle the wrong he believes he’s done, and it sends him on a downward spiral. Dorff makes every inch of that downward spiral believable and heartbreaking.

Hirsch, so good in this year’s Prince Avalanche, has another 2013 performance that qualifies as excellent. As the storytelling, hard-drinking Frank, he’s got both legs but is, in many ways, as vulnerable as Jerry due to his rough past. Hirsch, when he gets the right roles, is an exciting actor, and he truly gets to show off that talent in this film. He’s still got the promising Lone Survivor and a TV version of Bonnie and Clyde on his upcoming 2013 slate, further cementing this year as his best yet. He’s also just been cast as John Belushi in an upcoming biopic, so he’s really taking off.

Having read the novel, I can tell you that some of the plotting changes are a bit jarring, but the directors do a nice overall job of recreating the vibe of the book. The Polsky brothers, along with screenwriters Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster have adapted Vlautin’s novel in a way that honors the book and, for me, results in increased appreciation for the movie’s original source material.

Renoites might cringe when they see Virginia City substituting for Elko toward the end of the film. It’s a forgivable substitution, but might cause some giggling at Reno screenings. Hey, it’s much better than the time the Farrelly brothers showed their characters arriving from the west when they were clearly driving in from the east in Kingpin. That pissed me off.

After seeing The Motel Life, I’ve now seen two 2013 films shot in Reno that capture the feel of the city better than I’ve ever seen at the movies. Locally shot This is Martin Bonner is also quite good. So, in short, it’s been a good movie year for the Biggest Little City.

The Motel Life is not playing in local theaters, but is available for rental on iTunes and Amazon.com during its limited national theatrical run.