The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)

77% of critics liked it
(13 reviews)
47% of users liked it
(5,181 ratings)

This macabre, whimsical, erotic, dark, seriocomic film is a complex tale about an eccentric family and the psychological and emotional maelstroms that follow them around from New England to New York to Vienna, where the Hotel New Hampshire is located. Writer-director Tony Richardson worked from the… More This macabre, whimsical, erotic, dark, seriocomic film is a complex tale about an eccentric family and the psychological and emotional maelstroms that follow them around from New England to New York to Vienna, where the Hotel New Hampshire is located. Writer-director Tony Richardson worked from the convoluted novel by John Irving that covers most universally saleable topics -- homosexuality, death, incest, abandonment, Nazis, masochism, terrorists, rape, mental instability, and anarchists. The children in the family are the main focus: John (Rob Lowe) is a womanizing high-school student with a deep-rooted desire for his own sister; Franny (Jodie Foster) is the eldest daughter, a victim of a gang rape, now morbidly fascinated by one of the rapists, and equally attracted to her brother with incestuous desire; Frank (Paul McCrane) is the younger gay brother; and Lilly (Jennifer Dundas) is the little sister who blossoms into a famous author. Associated with the family is Suzie the Bear (Nastassja Kinski) who is not secure enough to come out of her bear suit. One friend of the family, Freud (Wallace Shawn), has been blinded by the Nazis and is running the Hotel New Hampshire in Vienna when he asks everyone to come and help him out. By this time, the plot has run out of room, and the climactic endings to several unresolved relationships happen in quick succession. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By: Tony Richardson
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 9, 1984 Wide
On DVD: Jul 10, 2001
Studio: Vestron Video

Critic Reviews

Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Erratic failure of comedy featuring Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Celebrates one family's resiliency in facing the accidents and perplexities of sex, violence and death.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Too deliberately quirky, but always watchable.
Andrew Howe, eFilmCritic.com
Veers between brilliance and banality with an almost manic enthusiasm.
Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide
So-so John Irving adaptation suffers from cinematic schizophrenia.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

An extremely weird story, about a lot of weird things that happen to this family, and they just keep getting weirder. I wasn't sure if this movie was weird in a good way or a bad way, so I'll just say it's okay.
Dean M

This writer-director Tony Richardson's film suffers from a frenetic pace designed to cram each idiosyncratic detail of the source material onto celluloid. Incest, rape, suicide, terrorism and sexuality issues populate the novel, but its author handles these and other cultural… More
This writer-director Tony Richardson's film suffers from a frenetic pace designed to cram each idiosyncratic detail of the source material onto celluloid. Incest, rape, suicide, terrorism and sexuality issues populate the novel, but its author handles these and other cultural touchstone issues with weight and dignity. If time has cast a harsh light on the filmmaking decisions here, however, it has only made more scintillating the youthful performances in the film; Natassja Kinski (25), Jodie Foster (21), Rob Lowe (20) and Seth Green (10) each forecasts long, bright burning careers, with the stately Beau Bridges holding together the film's disparate tendrils.
Lafe F

An engaging family-run-hotel film. Based on a great John Irvine novel. The characters are interesting and likeable. The situations are entertaining. Enjoyable viewing.
Stuart B

weird film
Barry L

I watched this as a kid and I still got the tension from this film. Very well written.

Cast

            Jodie Foster as Franny

            Beau Bridges as Father/Win Berry

            Rob Lowe as John

            Nastassja Kinski as Susie the bear

            Wilford Brimley as Iowa Bob

            Dorsey Wright as Junior Jones

            Jennifer Dundas as Lilly

            Matthew Modine as Chip Dove/Ernst

            Paul McCrane as Frank

            Anita Morris as Ronda Ray

            Amanda Plummer as Miss Miscarriage

            Lisa Banes as Mother

            Seth Green as Egg

            Wallace Shawn as Freud

            Gayle Garfinkle as Doris Walker/Screaming Annie

            Jonelle Allen as Sabrina

            Wally Aspell as Hotel Manager

            Louis Di Bianco as Bartender

            Norris Domingue as High School Band Conductor

            Arthur Grosser as American Husband

            Richard Jutras as Lenny Metz

            Walter Massey as Texan

            Joely Richardson as Waitress

            Jean-Louis Roux as Old Billie

            Michele Scarabelli as Chip Dove's Girl Friend

            Cali Timmins as Bitty Tuck

            Anthony Ulc as Chip Dove Gang Member

            Timothy Webber as Wrench

            Jeffrey Cohen as New York Journalist

            Jon Hutman as Reporter

            Janine Manatis as Schwanger

            Jerome Tiberghien as Stunts

            Joan Heney as Connecticut Woman

            Roger Blay as Arbiter

            Adrian Aron as American Woman

            Jade D. Bari as Jolanta

            Lorena Gale as Dark Inge

            Tara O'Donnell as American Daughter

            Johnny O'Neil as Chester Pulaski

            Fred Doederlein as Finnish Doctor

            Linda Clark as German Woman

            Robert Thomas as Harold Swallow
See full cast