Night At The Golden Eagle

Rating:
Summary: Adam Rifkin-A Director To Watch
Review: Both Detroit Rock City and Night At The Golden Eagle are perfect films in my mind. So, why is it that Rifkin doesn't get more attention as a filmmaker? See this movie...It rocks! Very depressing but powerful and attention grabbing the whole way through.

Rating:
Summary: Adam Rifkin-A Director To Watch
Review: Both Detroit Rock City and Night At The Golden Eagle are perfect films in my mind. So, why is it that Rifkin doesn't get more attention as a filmmaker? See this movie...It rocks! Very depressing but powerful and attention grabbing the whole way through.

Rating:
Summary: Gritty film--well done--not always easy to watch
Review: Director Adam Rifkin's dark film, "Night at the Golden Eagle," is the tale of Tommy and Mic--two aging, small-time hustlers. Tommy (Donnie Montemarano) is released from prison with the warning from the warden (James Caan in a cameo performance) that he doesn't want to see him back again. Mic (Vinny Argiro), Tommy's boyhood friend is outside the prison gates waiting for Tommy, and the joyful reunion lasts less than 2 minutes, and ends as soon as Tommy discovers that Mic has sold the car. Mic is trying to turn his career criminal life around. He's living in a disgusting flophouse hotel called preposterously "The Golden Eagle." Mic works as a night-time janitor at peep-show parlour, and between the sale of the car and his meagre earnings, he's scraped together a grand sum total of $2,500. He has bus tickets to Vegas and dreams that he and Tommy will have a new life in Vegas as Blackjack dealers surrounded by strippers.

Unfortunately, some old habits are hard to break, and while Mic goes off to mop the floors at the peep-show parlour, Tommy invites a prostitute to his room. Tommy and Mic are supposed to leave for Vegas the next day. What can possibly got wrong with their plans?

Both Tommy and Mic have problems with reality--Tommy hasn't changed one bit, and prison hasn't reformed him or sparked the least introspection. Mic, on the other hand, is the more complex character. He has changed. He wants life to improve--unfortunately, he's not realistic either, and his fantasies of a new life in Las Vegas are pathetic and yet necessary to his daily existence. All the hotel residents have some form of mental escape--drugs, sex, impossible dreams, and one can hardly blame them, for the reality which surrounds them all is the Golden Eagle Hotel--it's hell incarnate, and who wants to be conscious of the fact that they are residents of hell?

I was hooked into this film within 5 minutes. The lead actors--Donny Montemarano and Vinny Argiro had absolutely no prior acting experience, and they were just incredible. Vinnie Jones as Rodan, the pimp, is a rather unpleasant character who exploits young runaway Loriann. Loriann is one of life's victims who wanders into the neighbourhood, and is rapidly recruited by Rodan after one brief "training session" given by fellow veteran prostitute Sally (Ann Magnuson). Loriann and Sally soon form a poignant pseudo mother-daughter relationship, and Loriann's fate is sealed.

The cinematography is amazing, and many of the shots are in a golden tone. This creates a rather bizarre effect--the sordid, filthy squalor of the hotel in a warm, rich glow. This is not a particularly easy film to watch--its dark, depressing, and unrelenting view of the residents of the Golden Eagle hotel is nothing short of depressing. If you liked the raw honesty of "Requiem for a Dream," chances are you will like this too--displacedhuman.