The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)
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77% of critics liked it
(13 reviews) -
47% of users liked it
(5,254 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
- Directed By
- Tony Richardson
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Mar 9, 1984 Wide
- Studio
- Vestron Video
Critic Reviews
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Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Erratic failure of comedy featuring Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges.
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Celebrates one family's resiliency in facing the accidents and perplexities of sex, violence and death.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Too deliberately quirky, but always watchable.
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Andrew Howe, eFilmCritic.com
Veers between brilliance and banality with an almost manic enthusiasm.
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Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide
So-so John Irving adaptation suffers from cinematic schizophrenia.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Jodie Foster
as Franny
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Beau Bridges
as Father/Win Berry
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Rob Lowe
as John
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Nastassja Kinski
as Susie the bear
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Wilford Brimley
as Iowa Bob
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Dorsey Wright
as Junior Jones
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Jennifer Dundas
as Lilly
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Matthew Modine
as Chip Dove/Ernst
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Paul McCrane
as Frank
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Anita Morris
as Ronda Ray
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Amanda Plummer
as Miss Miscarriage
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Lisa Banes
as Mother
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Seth Green
as Egg
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Wallace Shawn
as Freud
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Gayle Garfinkle
as Doris Walker/Screaming Annie
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Jonelle Allen
as Sabrina
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Wally Aspell
as Hotel Manager
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Louis Di Bianco
as Bartender
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Norris Domingue
as High School Band Conductor
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Arthur Grosser
as American Husband
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Richard Jutras
as Lenny Metz
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Walter Massey
as Texan
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Joely Richardson
as Waitress
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Jean-Louis Roux
as Old Billie
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Michele Scarabelli
as Chip Dove's Girl Friend
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Cali Timmins
as Bitty Tuck
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Anthony Ulc
as Chip Dove Gang Member
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Timothy Webber
as Wrench
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Jeffrey Cohen
as New York Journalist
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Jon Hutman
as Reporter
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Janine Manatis
as Schwanger
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Jerome Tiberghien
as Stunts
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Joan Heney
as Connecticut Woman
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Roger Blay
as Arbiter
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Adrian Aron
as American Woman
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Jade D. Bari
as Jolanta
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Lorena Gale
as Dark Inge
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Tara O'Donnell
as American Daughter
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Johnny O'Neil
as Chester Pulaski
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Fred Doederlein
as Finnish Doctor
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Linda Clark
as German Woman
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Robert Thomas
as Harold Swallow
