MOVIE REVIEW

'Hotel' Offers a Double Dose of Unrequited Love

By KEVIN THOMAS, TIMES STAFF WRITER

Friday February 7, 1997

ADVERTISEMENT

     It's hard to imagine Craig Rosenberg's "Hotel de Love" appealing to anyone who isn't hung up on romance novels, but if you're into unrequited love, this may be for you. The twist in this exceedingly minor Australian romantic comedy is that this time it's the men instead of the women who are pining away for love.
     Simon Bossell's Stephen tells us how he and his fraternal twin Rick (Aden Young) fell hard for a visiting beauty, Melissa (Saffron Burrows). Although only Rick has been intimate with her, both brothers are still obsessed with her a full decade later. Neither has been able to fall truly in love with anyone else.
     In that time, Stephen has become a workaholic stockbroker while the increasingly cynical Rick has become the manager of a garish honeymoon hotel. (Its interiors seem to have been inspired by San Luis Obispo's famous Madonna Inn.) Wouldn't you know, Melissa and her fiance (Peter O'Brien) turn up one day, which says little for their taste in resorts. Also popping up for a visit are Stephen and the twins' parents, whose marriage has gone stale over the decades.
     The young stars are attractive and capable, but "Hotel de Love" is as synthetic as an old "Love Boat" episode.

---

Hotel de Love, 1997. R, for sexuality. A LIVE Entertainment presentation in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and Pratt Motion Pictures. Writer-director Craig Rosenberg. Producers Michael Lake, David Parker. Executive producers Peter Heller, Alex Waislitz, Heloise Waislitz. Cinematographer Stephen Windon. Editor Bill Murphy. Costumes Bruce Finlayson. Music Brett Rosenberg. Production designer Simon Dobbin. Art director Brian Dusting. Set decorators Marian Murray, Marita Mussett. Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes. Aden Young as Rick Dunne. Saffron Burrows as Melissa Morrison. Simon Bossell as Stephen Dunne.