Sometimes, in the crowded landscape of Hollywood, there is only one appropriate example to turn to for inspiration. In the case of Alan and Gabe Polsky, that example is very obvious, in the form of the multi-Academy Award-winning duo the Coen brothers.
The Polsky’s debut directorial effort, “The Motel Life,” is an adaptation of the debut novel by Willy Vlautin, an alternative country musician whose prowess for songwriting imagery is reflected in the Polskys’ film. The two take advantage of the skillfully written source material as much as possible, bringing their own views and experiences as brothers into a film about the strength of a maintained brotherhood.
While the Coen brothers have never explicitly produced a film about brotherhood (only a film with “Brother” in the title, coincidentally), the Polskys have clearly taken some notes from their book, presenting a dark, emotional tale of down-on-their-luck characters in a richly hued, naturalistic small-town setting.
Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff star as Frank and Jerry Lee Flannigan, respectively, two brothers who have been predominantly independent since childhood; their father left the family due to a gambling addiction and their mother passed away in their adolescence. The siblings constantly hop between motels in the Reno, Nev., area, spending most of their time drinking in bed and earning meager pay.
But when Jerry fatally strikes a cyclist on the road by accident, the brothers flee town and the police, continuing their motel-hopping journey, though this time with more of a purpose to call their own. Frank intends to return to the home of his former girlfriend Annie James (Dakota Fanning), while Jerry contemplates taking his own life to end their struggles.
Hirsch and Dorff have the chemistry that one would expect the Polskys to have, embodying the nuances each are presented with and playing off one another as theatrical professionals. Jerry, the older of the two, relies on his younger sibling for assistance with everyday tasks due to a leg disability. He draws images of the two of them in his spare time, accompanied by artistically creative depictions of fantasy female company.
Frank has a knack for weaving Jerry’s pictures into stories, creating fictional depictions of their exciting journeys together. The Polskys play with this part of their own story creatively, using animated images of Jerry’s pictures in sequence with Frank’s tales, coloring the subtly metaphoric substories into an interesting set piece for the film.
Otherwise, the Polskys unfortunately do not ultimately meet expectations as well as Hirsch and Dorff may have. Most of “The Motel Life” relies on the ability of its source material to be heartfelt and thematic, without translating much heart or theme to drive it. A majority of the movie consists of Frank and Jerry interacting only with themselves, sitting hopefully in their current motel room of residence waiting for nothing in particular to happen.
Although they remain interesting characters, neither brother inspires much to keep the plot going, relying heavily on their stories and unbreakable friendship to keep the audience attached. Their only company throughout a majority of the film is a stray dog that Frank adopts as a friend for Jerry, further suggesting that other humans, even in the film’s world, have little purpose interacting with them.
The Coen brothers’ film that “The Motel Life” most closely recalls is “No Country for Old Men,” a similarly countryside-set film that has at least a few heavily presented shots from within adjunct motel rooms. Whereas those scenes offer tension at its finest, leaving the fates of many characters on the cutting-room floor of a setting associated with trouble and dimly-lit insignificance, the Polskys don’t take advantage of their play area and rely too heavily on emotion without the importance of action driven by it.
It isn’t necessarily that Frank and Jerry’s actions are pointless, but rather that they don’t take many actions to begin with, only deciding to take progressive steps at moments when their lives are truly at risk – a point at which it’s too late to do anything.
“The Motel Life” is a commendable effort at recreating the poetic lamentation that accompanies what is essentially homelessness, but keeps itself at more of a pause than a state of play.