Part of my personal resolve to watch less movies and only choose those I really want to see (don’t worry, that’s still way too many) means that if I don’t see the trailer in theaters, unless it’s got a filmmaker I love and trust, it’s not gonna make my watch list by default. The info’s gotta come to me and tell me why I need to see it. If the studio doesn’t care enough to put in the minimum effort (really, it doesn’t take much for me to hear about it), it suggests they may not have faith in the film. Such was the case with Hotel Mumbai. I vaguely knew about it, but except for catching Armie Hammer doing a show or two on the late night circuit, I had seen zero press for it. But then I saw nothing but positive reviews on Stardust and a coworker sold me on it pretty hard when I said I hadn’t seen it yet. Turns out this one deserved way more publicity and attention.
This movie is the true story of a multi pronged attack in Mumbai India in 2008. A group of terrorists attacked various public areas before converging on a large glamorous hotel. We follow a few guests in the hotel (that’s where Armie Hammer comes in) as well as some of the staff (oh hi Dev Patel) as they fight for their lives on that harrowing night.
This is easily the most suspenseful story I’ve seen this year. The first act in particular didn’t let up. Any time someone even thought about moving, bang! DEAD! I almost wish I didn’t see this though. Remember, I’m an actual movie girl and I eat up any sorta shoot ’em up with explosions and blood and gore and kill counts. This is different. This is very real and graphic and terrifying in a this-actually-happened sort of way. I really didn’t want to know that people were capable of such horrors, and I feared the nightmares that would come.
The nightmares didn’t come tho, thankfully. Mr Rogers says to look for the helpers and there were some wonderful ones here. The staff of the hotel in particular were so selfless and wonderful. I focused on them.
Hotel Mumbai – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/