'Hotel Room' was a made-for-cable anthology mini-series created by David Lynch and Monty Montgomery (best known to me as the deeply sinister Cowboy from Mulholland Drive (2001)) which didn't get beyond the first three episodes. The critical reaction to the series was pretty negative and so HBO didn't take the project any further. From the perspective of today the most significant thing about 'Hotel Room' now is that two of its three parts were directed by Lynch and written by Barry Gifford, the director/writing team who devised Wild at Heart (1990) and Lost Highway (1997). The other instalment was directed by the unheralded James Signorelli who directed the (rather fun) Elvira movie.
When you take into account especially that Lynch and Gifford team up here, it has to be said that the results have to be considered somewhat disappointing. Neither the writing nor the direction seemed particularly good in their segments, while Signorelli's was poor also. The basic idea has the action in each episode occurring in the same hotel room but in differing years, in 1936, 1969 and 1992. It seems especially unfortunate that this wasn't a lot better really, as the potential is undeniable. The set-up is one which invites a lot of scope for creativity seeing as so many different characters and situations could be used in each episode. The recent British series 'Inside No.9' in fact shows brilliantly how such an idea can be used to devise something inventive and original. But as it is, Hotel Room definitely falls short and I can sort of understand why it wasn't recommissioned. No episode truly stood out for me as all felt under par in at least some way. You could probably argue that the final one 'Blackout' had at least a bit more atmosphere and overall purpose but it I did find even it somewhat uninvolving overall. The other two episodes felt a bit pointless and directionless. It seems to exist now in the form of an anthology film with all the episodes running together. It is still an interesting enough watch for the most part, especially if you like the work of Lynch but the overall feeling is that, with better writing especially, this could have led to something more.
