Variety.com

Posted: Mon., Dec. 11, 1995
 

HOTEL PARADISE

A Dakota Films production. Produced by Luc Roeg. Directed by Nicolas Roeg. Screenplay, Michael Allin. Camera (Technicolor), Witold Stok; editor, Tony Palmer; music, Harry Gregson-Williams; production design, David Brockhurst; costume design, Mary Jane Reyner; Dolby sound; line producer, Saskia Sutton; assistant director, Waldo Roeg; casting, Jeremy Zimmermann. Running time: 29 MIN.

Woman ... Theresa Russell
Man ... Vincent D'Onofrio

 Roeg's "Hotel Paradise" begins with Theresa Russell waking up handcuffed to a bed in a lavish suite after what looks to have been a kinky night with a man she doesn't recognize. Once she turns the tables by handcuffing him and starts dressing for her wedding that day, the man, Vincent D'Onofrio, insists that last night was the greatest night of her life; she insists that she can't remember a thing and resents his putting disturbing images into her head when she's about to marry someone else.

The half-hour of argumentative banter, punctuated by brief glimpses of what the man says happened during their wild night, is annoyingly aggressive, with embryonic ideas about memory, persistence and persuasion remaining undeveloped. Characters never reveal any vulnerability beneath their brittle, pushy exteriors , so the schematic superstructure of Michael Allin's script remains the most pronounced element of the episode.