Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
The Motel
Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
view
per page
  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. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    80
    There were half a dozen occasions, maybe more, when I roared out loud with laughter. This just may be a filmmaker with great things in him; this one's pretty damn good.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    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.
  5. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    75
    Unlike so many indie films, Michael Kang's gently empathetic debut embraces eccentricity without drowning in its own hip irony.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    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.
  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: G. Allen Johnson
    75
    Pleasant and surprisingly hard-edged coming-of-age indie film.
  8. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    75
    Kang balances the uproariously comic with the profoundly sad, and the two tones amplify each other with subtlety.
  9. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    75
    It's Kang's first feature and it suffers from rocky moments and an unsure eye, but his sense of detail is rich with prickly contradictions and he resists tidying up the story.
  10. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    70
    Indie coming-of-age dramas are not exactly an endangered species, but Michael Kang's debut drama is an admirably intelligent and modest example of the genre.
  11. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Eric Campos
    70
    The backdrop of this seedy motel is just the perfect place to illustrate the awkward times of early teen life.
  12. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Tim Grierson
    70
    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.
  13. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Sam Adams
    70
    A well-worn coming-of-age tale enlivened by pungent detail and a sharp visual sense.
  14. Variety
    Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    70
    The Motel offers a fresh take on characters and conventions, and compels interest with shrewd, sympathy-inspiring storytelling.
  15. 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.
  16. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    40
    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.
prev next
Page:
  • 1

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. ChadS.
    7
    What "The Motel" has in common with a seemingly disparate film like Justin Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow" is that the universality of people begets a common ground that preordains genre as largely being colorblind. This little gem is more of a coming-of-age film than it's an Asian-American one, but make no mistake, "The Motel" is a quietly important indie that knowingly acknowledges, then eschews the stereotypes which hinder Asian-American characters from being real people. "The Motel" opens at a Chinese restaurant, but interestingly, we never go inside it. This occupational staple of the "Oriental" is where the protagonist's dream girl(Christine, as played by Samantha Futerman) works. We follow Ernest(Jeffrey Chyau) to his family business, and it's not a Chinese laundry service. Like the characters in "Better Luck Tomorrow", there's more to Ernest and Christine than being mere bookworms. The boy is interested in porn. The girl likes to drink and smoke. It's brilliant how these polluting influences prevent "The Motel" from being too sweet, too easy to love. This film smartly shows how pornography retards the relationships between men and women. Even though the rocky relations between mother and son ends in mutual atonement, predictably mawkish, replete with tears; and too much time is devoted to Ernest's mentorship with a Korean motel-guest(Sung Kang), "The Motel" is most definitely worth checking out. Or is that checking in?… Full Review »
  2. 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.… Full Review »
  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.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »