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The Motel
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Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • 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. (Palm Pictures)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    88
    Kang's marvelously assured feature debut is a subtle adaptation of Ed Lin's acclaimed novel "Waylaid."
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    83
    Like the best independent films, The Motel realizes that life is made up of minor pleasures and tiny epiphanies, not sweeping character arcs or big dramatic moments.
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    60
    There's little originality in the joy rides, first kisses, and clashes with bullies, yet this 2005 debut feature by writer-director Michael Kang captures the small triumphs of a boy becoming a man.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. JoeK.
    10
    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.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. sistertycoon
    8
    Excellent acting and directon by robert wooosie. Go see it. I loved it. Could have been better but its really fun.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. KenG.
    4
    Flat, kind of drab movie, and there are problems with 2 of the main characters. The kid is simply too nerdy and wimpy to be likable, and the male guest who takes him under his wing is seriously underwritten. Plus, it is never clear why this guest becomes so interested in the kid.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 6 User Reviews

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