A film by Tony Richardson, based on John Irving’s novel. Starring Rob Lowe, Jodie Foster, Paul McCrane, Beau Bridges, Lisa Banes, Jennifer Dundas, a young Seth Green and Nastassja Kinski. The film talks about a family that weathers all sorts of disasters and keeps going in spite of it all, and has a wonderful assortment of oddball characters.

I must say I’m surprised by the unfavorable reviews. When I watched this for the first time, I loved it for the very reasons that some people seem to hate it. It was deliciously weird. Our heroes are in an incestuous relationship, and the movie is uncritical of this. That gets the brain working from the start. Then you discover the other bizarre characters/family members, who deal with topics like rape, death, incest, fame, prostitution, hotels, Dr. Freud, politics and more - and the movie becomes extremely lovable. Also the writing is exquisite. Admittedly, Rob Lowe’s acting isn’t up to much, but there’s great work, as usual, from Jodie Foster to compensate. To top it off “The Hotel New Hampshire” achieves great effect without being overly sentimental, which is rare. And remember, keep on passing open windows!

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibUBoYL_6vk

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