The Motel

Name: The Motel
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: June 28, 2006
Duration: 75 min
Rating: 70

2006

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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The Motel

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Movie Details & Credits

ImaginAsian Pictures | Release Date: June 28, 2006

Summary: Thirteen-year-old Ernest Chin lives and works at a sleazy hourly-rate motel on a strip of desolate suburban bi-way. Misunderstood by his family and blindly careening into puberty, Ernest befriends Sam Kim, a self-destructive yet charismatic Korean American man who has checked in. Sam teaches the fatherless boy all the rites of manhood.Thirteen-year-old Ernest Chin lives and works at a sleazy hourly-rate motel on a strip of desolate suburban bi-way. Misunderstood by his family and blindly careening into puberty, Ernest befriends Sam Kim, a self-destructive yet charismatic Korean American man who has checked in. Sam teaches the fatherless boy all the rites of manhood. (Palm Pictures)… Expand

Director: Michael Kang

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Runtime: 75 min

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

Kang's marvelously assured feature debut is a subtle adaptation of Ed Lin's acclaimed novel "Waylaid." Read full review

Stephen Holden

Michael Kang's small, perfectly observed portrait of Ernest Chin (Jeffrey Chyau), a Chinese-American boy who lives and works in a dingy downscale motel operated by his mother, captures the glum desperation of inhabiting the biological limbo of early adolescence. Read full review

Ty Burr

Kang balances the uproariously comic with the profoundly sad, and the two tones amplify each other with subtlety. Read full review

V.A. Musetto

Michael Kang makes an impressive feature directorial debut with The Motel. But the person to keep an eye on is Jeffrey Chyau, a student at the Bronx High School of Science, who is a delight in the lead role. Read full review

Tim Grierson

By not romanticizing its despairing yet humanistic outlook, The Motel presents a moment-by-moment emotional recap of almost anyone's formative years while simultaneously issuing a stinging reminder on the impossibility of fully outgrowing adolescence's uncertain searching. Read full review

Joe Leydon

The Motel offers a fresh take on characters and conventions, and compels interest with shrewd, sympathy-inspiring storytelling. Read full review

Michael Atkinson

The Motel, Michael Kang's modest Sundance applause reaper, doesn't deserve to be shotgunned for the sins of 30 other movies. But the underwhelming syncopation of make-nice clichés is too familiar. Read full review

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User Reviews

JoeK.

Oct 14, 2006

Great first feature! Not for the type of audience that needs everything spelled out. Lots of stuff going on in there. I've seen it a couple times now and I keep finding new layers. Definitely worth seeing at least once.