LA Times Reviews: Hospitality

The writer-director team of Nick Chakwin and David Guglielmo go impressively old-school for their neo-noir “Hospitality,” calling back to one of the genre’s canonical texts: James M. Cain’s novel “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” With its rural setting and deeply damaged characters, the movie functions more as a study of loneliness and desperation than a story of betrayal and murder.
Emmanuelle Chriqui aces one of the most substantial roles of her long career, playing Donna, a small-town ex-prostitute who lives with her brain-damaged teenage son at the bed-and-breakfast she runs. Her latest guest, Cam (Sam Trammell), is an ex-con looking for money he stashed on her property, while dodging a sleazy local lawman (JR Bourne) and a slick-talking crook who calls himself “The Boss” (Jim Beaver).
Chakwin and Guglielmo keep the story simple — to the point of being a bit predictable. But shocking plot twists aren’t really the point. “Hospitality” is both an exercise in atmosphere and an actors’ showcase, letting its cast settle deep into the skins of these people who just need something in their lives to break their way … even if they’ve done nothing to deserve it.
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‘Hospitality’
Not rated
Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Playing: Starts Dec. 7, AMC Universal CityWalk 19; also on VOD Original Article
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Review: HOSPITALITY, Mistakes Transform Into a Slow-Burn Thriller