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"HOTEL DE LOVE"
(1997) (Simon Bossell, Saffron Burrows) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Mild None Mild None None
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Minor None None Minor Mild
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate Minor Mild Minor Minor


QUICK TAKE:
Romantic Comedy: Two brothers meet a woman they’ve both been longing for over the past decade.
PLOT:
Stephen (SIMON BOSSELL) and Rick Dunn (ADEN YOUNG) are brothers who’ve both been in love with Melissa Morrison (SAFFRON BURROWS), a woman they met at a party over a decade ago. While Rick was briefly Melissa’s boyfriend, Stephen secretly longed for her. Melissa just happens to show up at the Hotel de Love where Rick now works and where his parents, Jack and Edith, are planning their 32nd wedding anniversary. Although Rick’s seeing Alison (PIPPA GRANDISON), a palm reader, he's instantly drawn back to Melissa even though she’s there with her fiancé, Norman. From then on, old passions flare up and new romance blossoms as the two brothers and the two women get tangled in a romantic web.
WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Teenagers may be drawn to this romantic comedy, but this film doesn’t have a well known cast, so some may not.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For sexuality.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • SIMON BOSSELL and ADEN YOUNG play brothers who are abnormally fixated with one woman for over ten years.
  • SAFFRON BURROWS plays a woman, who for the most part, is okay. But in her younger years she sleeps with Rick and then later tries to do so again ("to get it out of her system"), even though she’s engaged to someone else.
  • PIPPA GRANDISON plays a palm reader who sleeps with both brothers and admits to having slept with many more.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    OUR TAKE: 6.5 out of 10
    This is a refreshing and fun take on the romantic comedy genre. With a relatively unknown cast, the film manages to balance being funny while also occasionally providing rather poignant moments. While the often quirky performances are what set this film apart, at times they go a bit too far (especially for the Stephen character), and draw attention to themselves. Witty dialogue and the often hilarious use of 1970's songs, however, add to the movie’s fun. While it's doubtful this film will become a box office hit, it is different and enjoyable to watch. We give it a 6.5 out of 10.
    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Other than the sexually related material, there isn’t much to object to in this film. There’s a good deal of sexual activity with lots of groping and heavy breathing. Nudity, however, is limited to bare breasts and a man’s bare butt. Sexual talk is also rather heavy, but profanity isn’t. The brothers parents have marital problems and appear to be on the verge of a breakup, but there plight is only a subplot and the film doesn’t heavily focus on the problem. Obviously the sexual material makes this unsuitable for younger audiences, but it may be an okay film for older, mature teenagers. Of course those decisions rest with you and thus we suggest that you use the scene listings to make that determination.

    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • People drink beer at a party.
  • The father drinks beer at a party and others are seen drinking at the bar.
  • Stephen tells Melissa, "I’m going to get pissed (drunk)."
  • Many empty beer bottles are seen on a bedroom floor.
  • Norman drinks several shots of liqour in the bar.
  • Melissa drinks wine with a man.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • None.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Some may view the brothers' abnormal fixation on Melissa and their persistance on chasing after her as some of both.
  • The brothers' mother's attitude toward their father is bad at times during their marital problems.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • None.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • None.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Go to hell," "Bloody hell," and "I’m going to get pissed (drunk)."
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • None.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • A song by K.C. and the Sunshine Band has the lyrics, "Do a little dance. Make a little love. Get down tonight."
  • PROFANITY
  • 2 "s" words, 1 slang term for male genitals (the "d" word), 4 hells, and 2 uses of "Oh God," and 1 use of "My God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • The following occurs when the brothers and Melissa are teens.
  • Rick tells Melissa that it’s time for them to make love. She says that she’s keeping her virginity for the man she’s going to marry.
  • Rick spots a young lady arriving at the tennis courts and tells Stephen, "There’s your chance to unload your virginity."
  • Rick and Melissa are on his bed. There’s heavy breathing and he gropes her from behind but nothing more happens.
  • Stephen is undressed by a woman (down to his underwear) who takes some of her clothes off (her bare breasts are seen) and then climbs on top of him. It’s implied that they then have sex.
  • Melissa climbs through Rick’s room and takes her shirt off (seen from behind). She then climbs into bed with him and is seen kicking off her underwear. It’s implied that they have sex.
  • Melissa tells Rick that in the future she’ll always think of the guy she lost her virginity to, and then one day she’ll meet him at a party and "take him into the bathroom and make love."
  • The following occurs in the "present day."
  • Rick eats grapes from Alison’s toes while both are in bed (but no nudity is seen).
  • Melissa tells Stephen, "Don’t tell me you want to have sex with me in a cubicle like Rick."
  • Melissa tells Stephen that she finally seduced Norman after their non-sexual relationship went on too long.
  • Melissa and Norman are in bed together after he wasn’t able to "perform" (have sex).
  • Edith gets a secret admirer note that mentions her "thighs" and then reads, "My tongue searches for your moist wisdom." She later repeats this passage to a horrified piano player thinking that he’s the secret admirer.
  • A friend tells Melissa (about Norman not being able to "perform"), "The penis is communicating with you. The penis isn’t ready for commitment....When he proposes, the penis goes on a holiday." Melissa then tells her friend that "Sex isn’t everything in marriage," to which the friend replies, "That’s what people who don’t have sex say."
  • A couple makes out on a park bench in between Rick and Melissa who are discussing their relationship. As they talk, the other couple passionately kiss and breathe heavily, their hands caress Rick, grope his crotch, and the woman sticks her tongue into his ear.
  • After Melissa admits to Norman that she lost her virginity to Rick, he says, "The first time is never good for the woman." The look on her face shows that she knows that’s not true. Later, Norman tells the piano player that she told him that she had "six orgasms — two sets of three."
  • Stephen and Alison make out, but this scene is limited to heavy breathing.
  • Melissa asks Rick, "Why do men touch their d*cks all of the time?" He replies, "Because they’re there."
  • Melissa tells Rick why she had sex with him for the first time. Her house had just burned down and she thought how horrible it would have been had she died a virgin.
  • Melissa and Rick passionately make out, but this scene is also limited to heavy breathing.
  • Stephen and Alison are seen in bed together after having sex. Rick finds them together and as Stephen goes to talk to his brother, his bare butt is seen. He also covers his private parts with a pillow.
  • Melissa believes that she has to have sex with Rick one more time to "get it out of my system." She finds him, undresses (she’s seen in her bra) and then sits on his lap. She tells him her intentions and that there doesn’t have to be any foreplay. She then reaches down to his crotch but he stops all of this, saying that he can’t have casual sex with her.
  • SMOKING
  • Norman smokes in the bar.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • The brothers’ parents are constantly fighting and in one scene an object comes crashing out through a first floor window. In another scene, Edith throws objects at Jack and she tells him that she can’t go on living the way they are. She also accuses him of being a dirty old man. None of their problems, though, affect any young children as both of their sons are adults.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Relationships and letting go of those that don't work out.
  • VIOLENCE
  • An object flies through the brothers’ parent’s first floor window that was thrown by one of the parents in anger.
  • Melissa smacks Rick after he repeats her line (from "Sex/Nudity" about meeting the guy she lost her virginity to) from many years ago.
  • The brothers' mother throws things at their father during a fight.



  • Reviewed February 5, 1997

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