Searching round on Amazon UK for a good,live-action family film to watch during the holiday season,I was surprise to discover a family movie from the mid 90's,that starred Faye Dunaway and Jason "George from Seinfeld" Alexander!.Which led to me deciding,that for this season,I would go and cheek in with Dunston.
The plot:
Being told by the owner of The Majestic hotel,that he has to make sure the quality at the hotel is absolutely perfect,due to the hotel epecting an impestctor to secretly pay them a visit,and hopefully give them a 6th star.Taking hotel owner Mrs Dubrow's words to heart,hotel manager Robert Grant begins to solely focus on making the hotel's upcoming ball the best that it has ever held
As Robert begins to focus less on the current hotel guest,and more on arranging the ball,Grant's son Kyle,begins to suspect that one of the suitcases recently brought in by a new guest (called Lord Rustledge) actually contains something "secret",that will cause The Majestic Hotel a huge amount of trouble.
View on the film:
Whilst the screenplay by John Hopkins and Bruce Graham does rely on typical clichés, (such as having Rupert Everett play an English,upper class twit) and also some pretty big plot holes. (where did the diamonds go?) The writer's smartly use the film's brisk 88 minute running time to smoothly cover most of the flaws,by having most of the film shown from Kyle's (played by a good Eric Lloyd) point of view,that helps it to go from a wonderfully slap-stick diamond heist adventure,into being a little bit more dramatic,as Kyle attempts to save his new friend from being hurt.
Backed by delightful supporting performances from a boo-hiss Faye Dunaway and a bumbling,but well meaning Jason Alexander,director Ken Kwapis (who has since gone on to direct some brilliant episodes of the US Office) smartly makes Sam's (who sadly died of a heart attack in 2010) performance as Dunston the centre of the movie.For being his debut,Sam gives a wonderful performance that most humans can only dream of!,which goes from some genuinely hilarious moments,as Dunston is forced to do Lord Rustledge bidding,to giving the movie a huge dollop of charm in the scenes showing the growing friendship between Dunston and Kyle,which leads to this being a terrific legacy,that Sam should be proud to have left behind.
The plot:
Being told by the owner of The Majestic hotel,that he has to make sure the quality at the hotel is absolutely perfect,due to the hotel epecting an impestctor to secretly pay them a visit,and hopefully give them a 6th star.Taking hotel owner Mrs Dubrow's words to heart,hotel manager Robert Grant begins to solely focus on making the hotel's upcoming ball the best that it has ever held
As Robert begins to focus less on the current hotel guest,and more on arranging the ball,Grant's son Kyle,begins to suspect that one of the suitcases recently brought in by a new guest (called Lord Rustledge) actually contains something "secret",that will cause The Majestic Hotel a huge amount of trouble.
View on the film:
Whilst the screenplay by John Hopkins and Bruce Graham does rely on typical clichés, (such as having Rupert Everett play an English,upper class twit) and also some pretty big plot holes. (where did the diamonds go?) The writer's smartly use the film's brisk 88 minute running time to smoothly cover most of the flaws,by having most of the film shown from Kyle's (played by a good Eric Lloyd) point of view,that helps it to go from a wonderfully slap-stick diamond heist adventure,into being a little bit more dramatic,as Kyle attempts to save his new friend from being hurt.
Backed by delightful supporting performances from a boo-hiss Faye Dunaway and a bumbling,but well meaning Jason Alexander,director Ken Kwapis (who has since gone on to direct some brilliant episodes of the US Office) smartly makes Sam's (who sadly died of a heart attack in 2010) performance as Dunston the centre of the movie.For being his debut,Sam gives a wonderful performance that most humans can only dream of!,which goes from some genuinely hilarious moments,as Dunston is forced to do Lord Rustledge bidding,to giving the movie a huge dollop of charm in the scenes showing the growing friendship between Dunston and Kyle,which leads to this being a terrific legacy,that Sam should be proud to have left behind.