Four stories involving bellboy Ted encountering bizarre guests at his hotel: a group of women-witches try to re-awaken their goddess, Diana, in a bathtub soup, but one of them forgot an ingredient, sperm, so she decides to seduce Ted... While entering room 404, Ted is held at gunpoint by a seemingly jealous husband who has his wife tied up to a chair, accusing Ted to sleeping with her... A Hispanic man gives Ted 500$ to babysit his two kids, Sarah and Juancho, in the hotel room while he is off having a romantic night with his wife outside. But the kids misbehave... A Hollywood filmmaker, Chester, offers Ted 1,000$ to participate in a bet: if Norman can light his lighter ten times in a row, he wins Chester's car, but if he fails, Ted must hack up Norman's pinky finger. Norman fails to ignite the lighter even on the first try, Ted hacks up his finger, collects the money and leaves the room.
A disparate collection of episodes directed by four directors, "Four Rooms" is a hit-or-miss affair, though the film critics cannot agree upon which episodes are the better ones. Undoubtedly, the first story involving some obscure coven of witches trying to revive their goddess in the hotel bathtub is indeed the weakest link, failing to be either inspired or clever, and is simply not funny. The sole concept is misguided, the dialogues are stale, and the execution is routine. The fourth episode, directed by and starring Quentin Tarantino, is also among the camp of the subpar episodes, defying the old saying "save the best for last". Despite a neat openning 7-minute scene filmmed in one take, it is the weakest film Quentin Tarantino ever directed: it can be summed up as "much talk about nothing", since his enthusiasm for talking isn't working if it isn't matched by the sentences his characters are saying, which are here underwhelming. Likewise, the bet involving hacking off someone's little finger if he fails to light a lighter ten times in a row is ill-conceived, since it is more appropriate for some drugged teenagers playing truth or dare than serious grown ups who would volontarily engage in such a folly. However, episodes #2 and #3 work, and this is where "Four Room" finally lifts-off. The hostage-taking role play by husband and wife in the second story is directed by Alexandre Rockwell with a sense for visual style (Ted falling down in slow-motion; camera circling around him while he is on the floor; Ted stuck half-way in the window) and snappy dialogues ("Whether you like it or not, you are in the middle of a situation here you cannot just wish your way out of"; "Do you have the faintest idea what it's like to arrive at school and find yourself surrounded by the maladjusted?"). The third story, directed by Robert Rodriguez, is also funny, though it was a mistake to cast two little kids in such an adult setting, having the kid smoke and the girl see a dead prostitute hidden in the mattress, whereas it is a pity that the excellent Tim Roth is barely in this story, since he is just a supporting character this time around. Nonetheless, its finale is the comic highlight of this anthology film.
Grade:++
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