The Hotel New Hampshire

I don't believe that there is such a thing as a unfilmable novel. I think with the right people in front of, and behind the camera, a so called unfilmable novel can become something great on screen. Unfortunately, one of my favorite books hasn't been so lucky in it's transition from page to screen, 1984's The Hotel New Hampshire.

Adapted from John Irving's terrific novel, The Hotel New Hampshire follows the eccentric Berry family. The patriarchs, Win, Beau Bridges, and Mrs. Berry, Lisa Banes, met in their twenties while working a summer job at the Hotel New Hampshire. The couple marries, has five children, and opens up their own hotel, which attracts an eclectic group of tenants. Trouble seems to loom over the family, including death, rape, incest, suicide, blindness, and even a little bit of beastiality. All the while Win tries to keep his families spirits high.

I think the main problem with the movie is that it tries to hard to capture the oddness of the novel. On the page, you have the luxury of taking your time and not springing out too many things at once. With a movie, you usually only have a two hour window to cover a lot of ground. Director Tony Richardson is a fine filmmaker, but I think he might have been in over his head with this project. He tries to stay too faithful to the novel, causing the movie to be a jumbled mess. I think if it was made today, somebody like Wes Anderson could do it justice. Supposedly Irving was pleased with the film.

With the exception of Jodie Foster, who plays the eldest Berry daughter, the rest of the actors are miscast. And it's unfortunate because this is a pretty great cast. Rob Lowe, as the oldest Berry son, tries to hard to shed his pretty boy image. Timothy Hutton was originally cast in the role, and I think probably could have pulled it off.

Interesting sidenote, the band Queen was supposed to do the score, but the filmmakers decided to go in a different direction. One of the songs they wrote for the movie pops up on their album The Works.

I really want to like this film since I love the source material. I even rewatch it every ten years or so to see if maybe I will appreciate it more. Hopefully someday, someone will make a great version that does the book justice.

It's available on dvd.