Legendary filmmaker
Wim Wenders returns to the screen with this loosely structured murder mystery. The Million Dollar Hotel unites Wender's obsession with cool music, lost souls, and American trash culture. Set in 2001, the film opens with Tom Tom (
Jeremy Davies) taking a flying leap off the roof of the Million Dollar Hotel, an ironically titled dive in the seedy section of L.A. Told in an extended flashback, Tom Tom recounts the murder investigation of a down-and-out artist and son of a media mogul, Izzy Goldkiss (
Tim Roth), who also fell off the hotel. FBI special agent Skinner (none other than
Mel Gibson), sporting a neck brace, looks into the death only to discover that the building is teeming with weirdos and losers. There is Vivien (
Amanda Plummer), who claims to be the fiancée of the rock star; Geronimo (
Jimmy Smits), a huckster trying to make a buck by selling Izzy's abstract painting; Eloise (
Milla Jovovich), a burned out prostitute with a passion for intellectual literature; and Dixie (
Peter Stormare), who swears up and down that he is the fifth Beatle. As the film progresses, Skinner proves to be just as much of a freak as the hotel tenets -- he was born with a third arm that was surgically removed from his back. Just as in his
Until the End of the World (1991), Wenders features a fantastic soundtrack including songs from
Bono, Daniel Lanois, and Brian Eno. The Million Dollar Hotel opened the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide