Across the Hall (2009)

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Blistering performances.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I can't believe this movie has such a low number of views and reviews.I came to this movie, because of Brittany Murphy, in fact it was the only movie of her I didn't see. Shame on the medias, for not giving it the publicity it deserves.As some wrote, this is an excellent Film Noir, it may have been better without color, but then the colors of an ancient hotel where nothing has been changed since its opening is just a very good choice. It gives a bit of Barton Fink feeling, though the plot is nowhere as crazy.The plot unfolds before us, not in a straight line of time in the beginning, and for an enjoyable while, you ask yourself, who knows what you know? Very clever.Some may critic a lack of action. But that's what makes this movie so great. There is a constant tension, and twist of minds, with very well depicted characters, who may or may not become an accomplice. Brilliant.And the end shows a final slow motion scene, maybe just to make fun of all the people who can't enjoy and stay awake, unless they are shot with constant action scenes.I was very tired late at night, when I started watching the movie, and I didn't think I could finish it.But I knew right from the start, this movie would be a little jewel, because the intro is first class, with excellent music too.And it even motivated me to write this review, straight after. That's the best compliment I can give.

This was a very good movie. I put off renting it for a couple months because it looked like it would be stupid but I am glad I finally saw it. This is a clever and unique movie. The last couple movies that Brittany Murphy has been in were not what I would call great(not even good really), so I wasn't expecting much. She didn't really have a huge speaking role in the movie but she did a pretty good job. The other two actors did a great job. I love the fiancé. He quickly went from a blubbering, crazy guy who was losing his mind to a smart quick thinking genius who pulled of the ultimate revenge. Definitely gonna be on the top of my list of good suspense movies to recommend to people.

Really boring movie. The story is too slow and predictable. All that jumping back and forward made me think the director wanted to make the movie longer. And every scene seemed never to end.They could maybe make a real movie with this story that lasted let's say 10 minutes.The hotel is a terribly dull place to shot this yarn, every place is dark and red and looks just the same than the previous tedious space. They must have read somewhere that red excites people and you will probably need encouragement like that to get to the silly end of this movie. I fell asleep twice before reaching the end.So, if you have 3 days to spare to watch a single movie or you cannot get asleep this might be the movie for you. Otherwise keep well clear of this piece of trash.

I was completely caught off guard by this film. It has a great classic film/noir feel to it which is far too uncommon these days. That it was clearly accomplished on a smaller than Hollywood budget is all the more impressive. The pacing is steady and deliberate which may throw some viewers off, but there is so much texture and richness to each scene that you have the opportunity to really take it all in and feel/experience the mood and atmosphere, unlike most movies in this genre (think Mad Men, one of the best shows on TV, in this respect). The acting, cinematography, music, lighting and direction are across the board very impressive. I started watching thinking I would only sit through about 20 mins or so, but I was totally compelled to watch the entire thing (twice actually!) and found myself incredibly engaged. In terms of story and twists, I quite enjoyed the way the structure of the film really didn't cheat or force these elements. Upon the second viewing I found really interesting clues that would have allowed me to figure things out the first time if I had noticed them then (pay attention to expressions, time of day and even the drink glasses in the film). The plot and story is very tightly woven together. Its easy to dismiss some of these things as cheap or devisive but thats a lazy criticism. They are clearly carefully crafted and not just thrown in there.I hope to see this film hit theaters soon as I would love to experience it on the big screen. There are shades of Hitchcock and Kubrick that really excite me about a project like this. I don't know that its actually a 10, maybe an 8 or 9 (who knows?), but film efforts like this deserve major praise and hopefully this one will gain major momentum. Kudos to the creative team for bringing a smart, non effects-driven, character based thriller to creation. This is excellent work.