Hotel de Love (1996) is an unambitious Australian romantic comedy about
twin brothers, and their competition for women. Most of the film takes place
at the Hotel de Love, where Aden Young is the manager. Twin brother Simon
Bossell is a successful stock broker, but his love life is a mess. Bossell is
picking up his parents to take them to the Hotel de Love where they were
married. The marriage was the start of a lifelong battle of the sexes. The
hotel, which used to be called Niagra Smalls, has elaborately-themed suites,
and is a popular if somewhat tacky place for weddings and romance. We begin
with a flashback, where both brothers are at a party, and Bossell suddenly
"feels love." He turns around to see Saffron Burrows, and starts to walk
towards her, only to be beaten by his brother. He must endure their resulting
love affair, including her loss of virginity, at close range, relegated to the
role of friend. When she leaves for university in England, they are both
pining for her.
Returning to the near present, with their parents arriving for a visit, the
boys have decided the parents should renew their wedding vows, even though
they spent most of their married lives as combatants. That doesn't look
promising, and mum is more virulent than usual until she starts receiving
highly erotic love letters from a secret admirer. Burrows also checks in,
boyfriend in tow. The boyfriend proposes. The old rivalry between the brothers
resumes immediately, but Bossell becomes increasingly distracted by Pippa
Grandison, the hotel psychic. Other running gags include a piano bar singer
whom people continually ask for advice but don't let answer, and a pair of "horneymooners."
If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to
read the
explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by
our definition, a
C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs
and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:
C-
Mediocre rom-com which is only occasionally amusing.
