Main Cast: Tim Roth, Valeria Golino, Jennifer Beals, Antonio Banderas, Quentin Tarantino
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Four of the most celebrated directors in the independent film community pooled their talents for this episodic comedy. Ted (Tim Roth) is the new bellboy at a beautiful but decaying luxury hotel; he is not having a good time of it on New Year's Eve, his first night on the job. In one room, a coven of witches are trying to summon the spirit of the goddess Diana; each of the witches must bring a different bodily fluid for their spell to work, but Eva (Ione Skye), who was supposed to bring semen, managed to lose her supplies, and needs Ted's help for a last-minute replacement. Another room, where Ted was supposed to deliver some ice, turns out to house an angry husband (David Proval), who is holding his bound-and-gagged wife (Jennifer Beals) at gunpoint. A third room is taken by a tough-talking gangster (Antonio Banderas), his doormat wife (Tamlyn Tomita), and their two children; the gangster demands that Ted watch over the kids, who turn out to be mischievous terrors beyond Ted's wildest imagination. And room number four is where an arrogant film actor (Quentin Tarantino) is holding a party. One of his guests makes a bet that he can get a Zippo lighter to light ten times in a row, with his finger at stake if he loses. Allison Anders directed the first segment, which also featured Madonna, Valeria Golino, and Lili Taylor. The second segment was directed by Alexandre Rockwell, husband of his frequent leading lady Jennifer Beals. Robert Rodriguez directed the third story, while the finale was directed by its star, Quentin Tarantino; the final segment also features Bruce Willis, who appeared unbilled. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A pet project for its four directors -- all of whom were discovered and became friends at the 1992 Sundance Festival -- this vignette film is entertaining, albeit in a sick, darkly humorous way. Each vignette features a different helmer: Robert Rodriguez, Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, and Quentin Tarantino. Four Rooms has an overall down-the-rabbit-hole feel with the pedantic Tim Roth as the buffooning bellhop minstrel unifying the four stories. Anders' piece is mostly hogwash, replete with a halfhearted cameo from Madonna. Rockwell's entry is intense, thanks to a little help from a potty-mouthed Jennifer Beals. Rodriguez, on the other hand, takes a page out of Tales From the Crypt for a disgustingly ludicrous segment featuring Antonio Banderas. Tarantino's culminating piece -- an homage to Hitchcock's Rope -- is fraught with hysterical tension and a nicely mannered Bruce Willis. A slimy, sometimes hilarious slab of rambunctious cinema, Tarantino's bit even includes the director himself, as a high-falooting blowhard. ~ Mike DiBella, All Movie Guide
Bruce Willis - Leo ["The Man from Hollywood"]; Paul Calderon - Norman ["The Man from Hollywood"]; Sammi Davis - Jezebel ["The Missing Ingredient"]; Kathy Griffin - Betty; David Proval - Sigfried ["The Wrong Man"]; Ione Skye - Eva ["The Missing Ingredient"]; Lili Taylor - Raven ["The Missing Ingredient"]; Marisa Tomei - Margaret; Tamlyn Tomita - Wife (segment "The Misbehavers"); Alicia Witt - Kiva (segment "The Missing Ingredient"); Lawrence Bender - Long Hair Yuppy Scum; Marc Lawrence - Sam the Bellhop; Madonna - Elspeth ["The Missing Ingredient"]; Amanda de Cadenet - Diana; Paul Skemp - Real Theodore; Salma Hayek - TV dancer (segment "The Misbehavers")
Credit
Mayne Schuyler Berke - Art Director, Paul Hellerman - Co-producer, Scott Lambert - Co-producer, Heidi Vogel - Co-producer, Susan Bertram - Costume Designer, Mary Claire Hannan - Costume Designer, Fernando Altschul - First Assistant Director, Allison Anders - Director, Alexandre Rockwell - Director, Quentin Tarantino - Director, Robert Rodriguez - Director, Elena Maganini - Editor, Sally Menke - Editor, Robert Rodriguez - Editor, Margie Goodspeed - Editor, Alexandre Rockwell - Executive Producer, Quentin Tarantino - Executive Producer, Combustible Edison - Composer (Music Score), Esquivel - Composer (Music Score), Paul Starr - Makeup, Gary Frutkoff - Production Designer, Rodrigo García - Cinematographer, Phil Parmet - Cinematographer, Andrzej Sekula - Cinematographer, Buillermo Navarro - Cinematographer, Lawrence Bender - Producer, Sara Andrews - Set Designer, Dolby sound - Sound/Sound Designer, Allison Anders - Screenwriter, Alexandre Rockwell - Screenwriter, Quentin Tarantino - Screenwriter, Robert Rodriguez - Screenwriter
The soundtrack to Four Rooms is a collection of kitschy cocktail music, performed by original practitioners like Esquivel, and revivalists like Combustible Edison. It's an enjoyable, if lightweight, album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Mark Mothersbaugh (Producer), Bruce Fowler (Trombone), Dave & Ansel Collins (Mastering), Esquivel (Performer), Miss Lily Banquette (?), Brian Capouch (Engineer), Brian Capouch (Remixing), Nicholas Cudahy (?), Peter Dixon (?), Larry Klimas (Sax (Tenor)), Don Markese (Clarinet), Don Markese (Sax (Baritone)), The Millionaire (?), Aaron Oppenheimer (?), Carl Plaster (Producer), Ralph Rickert (Trumpet), Combustible Edison (Band), Combustible Edison (Producer), Combustible Edison (Performer), Karyn Rachtman (Music Supervisor), Robert Casale (Engineer), Kristen Becht (Music Coordinator), Mary Ramos (Music Coordinator), Quentin Tarantino (Executive Producer), Allison Anders (Executive Producer), Lawrence Bender (Executive Producer), Robert Rodriguez (Executive Producer)
Four Rooms is a 1995 anthology film telling four stories set in a Los Angeles hotel on New Year's Eve. Tim Roth stars as the principal character of the frame tale; he also takes part to a greater or lesser degree in the four stories, which feature Quentin Tarantino, Antonio Banderas and Madonna, among others.
Now the bellhop, Ted assists a number of unusual women transport their bags up to the honeymoon suite. He learns that they are a coven of witches, brewing a potion to reverse a spell placed on their goddess forty years ago. In order to create the potion, each witch must place an ingredient into a large cauldron during a ritual. However, one of the witches has failed to bring sperm and is now charged by the other witches to obtain it. The witch manages to seduce an initially reluctant Ted and has sex with him in the cauldron. After he leaves, the witches complete the ritual and the goddess emerges from the cauldron.
Two drunken party guests call room service to get some ice. They are confused about whether they are on the fourth or the fifth but eventually direct Ted to room 404, where he finds himself in the middle of fantasy hostage situation between a husband and wife. Siegfried, the husband, angrily accuses Ted (whom he calls Theodore) of having slept with his wife, Angela. At gun point, Ted is forced to participate in the scenario, without knowing what is real or fantasy. At one point, Ted is stuck in a bath room window and one of the drunken party guests appears in the window upstairs and almost hits Ted with his vomit. Eventually, Ted escapes just when the other drunken party guests appears, looking for room 404 and is greeted by Siegfried in the same manner.
A husband and wife go out to a New Year's Eve party and leave their two children in the hotel. Ted is paid $500 to keep an eye on the children by the father, who gives them the stern warning not to misbehave. As Ted is responsible for the entire hotel, he is unable to actually stay in the room with the children, but instead instructs the children to amuse themselves by watching television. After Ted leaves, the siblings quickly begin to squabble and proceed to both explore and vandalize the room, exploding a bottle of champagne in the process. The children call Ted on the phone to ask to turn off the adult television channel and for toothbrushes, at which point he delivers them stale crackers and milk and attempts unsuccessfully to put them to bed. After being summoned back to the room once more, Ted stumbles into a scene of mass chaos, and finds the source of the terrible odor in the room, a dead prostitute stuffed under the mattress. While Ted tries to quell the chaos in the room, the children's parents reenter the room and ask "Did they misbehave?"
After this, an unsettled Ted calls his boss, Betty, to complain about the events. Betty fell asleep during a party in her room but Ted finally gets her on the phone and announces his resignation. However, the two are interrupted by a call from the penthouse.
This story line created the basis for Rodriguez's later Spy Kids films
The penthouse is currently being occupied by the famous director Chester Rush. Ted is asked to deliver a block of wood, a doughnut, a ball of twine, three nails, a club sandwich, a bucket of ice and a hatchet. After getting acquainted with Chester and his friends, Ted is asked to take part in a challenge: Chester's friend Norman bet him that he can light his Zippo cigarette lighter ten times in a row. If he succeeds, he wins Chester's car, but if he fails, he loses his pinky finger. Ted is charged to act as an impartial "hatchet man" and cut off Chester's friend's finger, should he fail. Ted initially tries to leave but a $100 bill convinces him to stay and another $1000 finally persuade him to play the assigned role. Norman fails on the first try, his finger is chopped off and Ted immediately leaves with the money. While the credits are rolling, we see the frantic rush of Chester and company running to get the friend to a hospital.
Linking
The four segments are shown in chronological order, except for The Misbehavers, the events of which span a longer time frame and precede and succeed the events of The Wrong Man.
There is little linkage between the segments, though Ted hangs up the two cherries received The Missing Ingredient at the beginning of The Misbehavers, echoes the witches' ritual by the expression "weird voodoo thing" in The Wrong Man and recalls the events of the preceding three segments when calling his boss. A strange telephone call in The Wrong Man is explained in the The Misbehavers and Angela from The Wrong Man reappears in the final segment.
The film did not fare well with critics, receiving a 15% rating from Rotten Tomatoes.[3] Roger Ebert found "The Misbehavers" to be the best of the four segments, finding both "The Missing Ingredient" and "The Wrong Man" to be the worst.[4]James Berardinelli of ReelViews described the film as "one of 1995's major disappointments".[5] Hal Hinson of the Washington Post described the experience as "a goof so laboriously and aggressively that you almost feel pinned back in your seat".[6] Most reviews agree with Ebert in finding "The Misbehavers" the best of the bunch.
Madonna won the 1995 Razzie award for Worst Supporting Actress for her part in "The Missing Ingredient".[7]
The film did not do well at the box office overall, grossing just over its $4 million budget in the United States.[8]
