Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 4
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 3,865
Writer-director Michael Kang makes his feature debut with the coming-of-age comedy, The Motel. Newcomer Jeffrey Chyau stars as Ernest Chin, a chubby 13 year-old Chinese-American boy whose mother (Jade Wu) runs a sleazy motel in upstate New York. The clientele of The Motel are predominantly prostitutes and their johns, which spurs Ernest's budding sexual curiosity. When he's not cleaning rooms, eavesdropping on guests, avoiding the local bully, or tormenting his little sister Katie (Alexis Chin),
Jun 28, 2005 Wide
Jan 30, 2007
Palm Pictures
All Critics (32) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (4) | DVD (4)
The Motel gives the lie to all those mainstream teen sex comedies starring happy, horny gwailos .
Perhaps The Motel meanders a bit too much -- hard to do in a 76-minute film -- but it is an engaging little movie.
There is honesty and integrity in the filmmaking and the performances, which make The Motel among the best character studies of the year.
A well-worn coming-of-age tale enlivened by pungent detail and a sharp visual sense.
The film about of a teenage Chinese-American boy struggling with adolescent issues while working in his family's fleabag motel has the precise brevity of a well-crafted short story.
Unlike so many indie films, Michael Kang's gently empathetic debut embraces eccentricity without drowning in its own hip irony.
A wonderful reminder that adult life is never as difficult as puberty was.
A welcome addition to the "awkward adolescence" genre,
A bittersweet meditation on manhood deeply-rooted in Amer-Asian culture.
A most impressive feature film debut by writer/director Michael Kang who has crafted a compelling tale by examining rites of passage from a fresh perspective, namely, that of a Chinese-American adolescent.
Each of Ernest's interactions and epiphanies is pure, calculated movieland.
Kang and Chyau make for a great team, with Chyau able to give an honest performance that requires humiliation, but never disrespect.
As rundown as it is and as downbeat as its denizens are, only 76 minutes seems like too short a stay at "The Motel."
It's a modest triumph of unflattering realism, proving yet again that a camera, a few good actors, the right material and a sensitive director are all you need to illuminate any particular aspect of humanity.
It's pretty much a customary coming-of-age tale, though it is told with refreshing honesty and realism.
... suffers from rocky moments and an unsure eye, but [Kang's] sense of detail is rich with prickly contradictions and he resists tidying up the story.
...specific and detailed enough to separate itself from the pack.
It's Kang's understanding of human nature -- not particularly profound, but true and sharp as a perfectly drawn arrow -- that makes this unpretentious production sing.
Even if writer-director Michael Kang doesn't exactly break new ground, he imbues his debut with a quiet, compelling inertia that mimics puberty's rudderless drift, its burgeoning desire for something, anything, to change.
Pretty short and low-budget, but a decent indie flick about a young chinese boy who works with his family at a suburban motel (hence the title). It's a very character-driven story and quite funny in parts. Sadly though, it got kind of dull after a while, as there wasn't much going on. The dialogue is also overly simple
July 10, 2009Super Reviewer
In "The Motel," 13-year old Ernest(Jeffrey Chyau) lives and works at a rundown motel managed by his mother, along with his younger sister and grandfather. As far as slice-of-life movies go, it is rather sweet and not bad but it is also so slight that it could be blown away by the first strong breeze. And it is rather
September 24, 2007Super Reviewer
| 35% | The Hangover Part II |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 81% | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 44% | Cowboys & Aliens |
| 83% | Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 88% | Lady and the Tramp |
| 69% | A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas |
| 21% | Fireflies in the Garden |
| 45% | The Rebound |
Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip
What are his 10 best movies ever?
See the all-new action-packed trailer!
Five new Marvelous pictures