BEFORE: Day 2 in Atlantic City, and we hit our traditional Monday morning spot, the breakfast buffet at the Borgata - some things never change, thankfully. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not overdo it, with two full plates of breakfast items - eggs, quiches, frittata, bacon, sausage, bagels, pastries, ham, slab bacon, and then top it all off with a biscuit covered in creamed chipped beef? Always the highlight of the trip, no matter where else we eat, we've just got to stop in for this - and we had both agreed over the last year that the pandemic wouldn't be officially over, for us anyway, until we were sitting in the Borgata breakfast buffet together. So, good news, for us the pandemic is done - your mileage may vary, however.
Then (after a break) we went shopping, only to find that the nearest shopping center, the Playground (across from Caesar's Palace) was almost completely empty - the pandemic was not kind to a set of upscale shops. The A.C. Apple store used to be there, plus a watch store, a cell phone case store, Versace home, and a bustling food court that included Buddakan. Well, restaurants were hit hard everywhere, but with the casinos closed due to the pandemic, all of the restaurants inside or near the casinos had to shut down, too. The food court of this mall is now just a free place for people to sit down and look out at other people on the beach. Which, if you ask me, is better than actually GOING to the beach - I mean, between getting covered in sand and risking drowning, sunburn and shark attack, why bother?
The only store left open in the whole complex was It'Sugar, a place to buy marked up candy, both current and vintage, both boxed and by weight, so we each bought some chocolates, to help take the edge off of realizing that much of the Atlantic City we knew was gone, perhaps for good - sure, there were other people in the hotel and the casino, but nowhere NEAR the level of what we'd seen before. Anyway, we de-camped back to our hotel, which we learned ALSO had a view of the boardwalk and the beach - we didn't open the curtains the first day, so we almost didn't even realize this! We were staying in the part of the Bally's complex that was the converted Dennis Hotel, more on that in a bit - but by Day 2 we just wanted to have a nice dinner, watch some TV on our phones and get ready for the trip home. We tried another new restaurant, Waterdog, and they asked us, on a MONDAY, if we had a reservation - meanwhile, we could SEE how many empty tables there were, and they're going to tell me I need a reservation? Screw that, they should be THANKING me that I want to drop some money in their restaurant. Just as I was about to say, "Well, can I just MAKE a reservation, then?" some smarter restaurant manager waved us in. Apparently the whole staff is green, and hasn't yet learned how to provide proper customer service - the waiter just acted like he'd rather be somewhere else, anywhere else.
Benedict Wong carries over from "Raya and the Last Dragon", and between him and the lead actor here, it's very clear where I'm headed next. I don't NEED to watch this one, I could go straight into the "Multiverse of Madness", but let's squeeze one more in, get it off the list. The only problem is, this one WAS on HBO Max when I made the chain, I swear it was, but now it's scrolled off that service - geez, was it only there for a few months? Hey, HBO, how about giving me enough time to, you know, WATCH the movies on your service before you drop them? That would help me out - now I had to pay $2.99 to watch this on YouTube. (Again, I could have dropped it, but I want things to line up a certain way for Father's Day, and I may not circle back to these actors again, you just never know...)
THE PLOT: Migrants Okwe and Senay work at a posh London hotel and live in constant fear of deportation. One night, Okwe stumbles across evidence of a bizarre murder, setting off a series of events that could lead to disaster or freedom.
AFTER: This film is set in a London hotel, so let me just take a minute and rip apart the Bally's Hotel in Atlantic City, before I proceed. Again, we weren't booked into one of the newer rooms in the towers, we were down near ground level, in the converted Dennis Hotel, which was built in 1909 or so, and it doesn't seem like much has been done since then to upgrade the place. OK, supposedly there were renovations done in 1929, which seems about right. The carpets were stained, the air in the hallways was stale, and our suite made no sense. The second room had a couch with mismatched and torn cushions - though it WAS comfortable, I fell asleep on it twice - we had two TVs, which worked, and two refrigerators that didn't. Plenty of ice, though, so we had cold drinks, but the ice machine on our floor was out, so I had to take the elevator to another floor to get ice. From a hotel guest's perspective, the place was something of a nightmare, but the bed was clean and comfortable, and we were only there for 48 hours, so we overlooked a LOT, because we understand the city's trying to bounce back - they still have a LONG way to go, at least over at Bally's. But the restaurants were new, and the slots were TIGHT - as in, we lost a bunch of money, but let's hope some of that goes toward making some improvements around the hotel.
Anyway, it could have been worse - sure, there were sketchy people roaming around the hotel, some of which insisted on making conversation, some of which checked in with paper bags for luggage, and some of which were VERY large people. I always say that if you're old and want to feel young, go on a cruise, and if you're a fat person and you want to feel skinny, just go to Atlantic City. And then there were also sketchy people roaming around the Boardwalk, A.C.'s version of homeless people, who will also try to engage you in random coversation - best not to engage, no matter how friendly they seem, it just can't end well. But at least we came by car and didn't leave by bus, and we still had all our organs intact when we left. We had a few nice meals and no luck at the slots - maybe we'll go back again in a few months, but let's see how the economic recovery pans out first.
Oh, yeah, the organs thing - sorry to drop that in there, but it's a key plot point of "Dirty Pretty Things", the lead character finds something clogging the toilet in one of the hotel rooms, and it's a human heart, which leads to a number of questions - whose heart? Did someone bring this into a hotel room with them, and if so, why? And if they did, why try to flush it? And if this is proof of a murder, then, umm, what happened to the rest of the body? The film doesn't actually ANSWER all of these questions, but just to be safe, I wouldn't eat any of the meat pies served at the cafés around the hotel. Those Brits sometimes serve "steak and kidney pie" without saying where the kidneys came from. Or the steak.
The lead character, Okwe, was studying to be a doctor at one point, so he probably would recognize a human heart - but then something happened, and we gradually find out more about his previous life in Africa and New York as the film goes on. Okwe works at the front desk of the Hotel Baltic in London, but he also has a night job as a cab driver, and lives in constant fear of the British Immigration services. So does Senay, who works at the hotel as a maid, and she lets Okwe crash on her couch during the day, after both his jobs have ended, they've got a loose romantic relationship that isn't well-defined, it hasn't been consummated because Senay is Muslim and doesn't believe in pre-marital sex, and Okwe's apparently got some issues of his own where relationships are concerned.
And then there's all the hinky stuff going on at the hotel, where the manager Juan (aka "Sneaky") lets prostitutes use several of the rooms for their hook-ups, and then there may be other deals going on where immigrants are trading kidneys for false passports and other documents. Sneaky's convincing people that having a kidney removed is as easy as having a tooth pulled, but nothing could be further from the truth. And once he finds out that Okwe used to be a doctor, he tries to blackmail him into doing the operations, because he's probably better at it than the guy who couldn't tell a kidney from a heart. Wait, is THAT what happened?
The immigration officers are alerted to Senay because Okwe is seen entering and leaving her apartment - and it's illegal for her to rent out her apartment, or work for the hotel - geez, how's an immigrant supposed to live in the U.K. if they can't work or collect rent? The only other option seems to be to sell (or rent) body parts, and it just comes down to which ones (and for how long). Senay is from Turkey, which I just found out is a country that wants to change its name, or at least what people in the U.S. and U.K. call it - they want to be known as Türkiye now, to avoid confusion with the bird or the meat from that bird. Big mistake, people in the U.S. LOVE to eat turkey, especially at Thanksgiving, but come on, turkey sandwiches on toast with cheese and mayo are GREAT, like all year-round, you could do a lot worse than being associated with turkey. It's not like your country is called "Liver" or "Squid" or "Head Cheese" (though I, personally, love the head cheese, I know I'm in the minority...). Jeez, the next thing you know, Cuba will try to change its name because they don't want to be associated with Cubano sandwiches - or the country of Georgia will want to change its name because they don't want to be associated with American rednecks.
So Senay is forced to quit her job, and find another one in a sweatshop, where the boss sexually harasses her. Yes, she finds a way to turn the tables on him - good for her - but she's clearly scarred by the experience, and then on the run from immigration for real. If only she knew somebody who could forge a passport for her, she could make her way to New York, and that would solve all her problems. (Umm, sure, right...). Can Okwe use his skills to manipulate the situation, and get Senay, and himself, out of London? And then, if he can, what will that mean for their non-relationship? And how can he report what's going on at the hotel to the authorities, without getting himself in any more trouble?
Also starring Chiwetel Ejiofor (last seen in "Locked Down"), Audrey Tautou (last seen in "The Jesus Rolls"), Sergi Lopez (last seen in "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote"), Sophie Okonedo (last seen in "Hellboy" (2019)), Damon Younger, Paul Bhattacharjee (last seen in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"), Darrell D'Silva (last seen in "Official Secrets"), Sotigui Kouyaté, Abi Gouhad, Zlatko Buric (last seen in "2012"), Jeffery Kissoon (last seen in "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens"), Barber Ali, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Josef Altin (last seen in "Child 44"), Noma Dumezweni (last seen in "The Kid Who Would Be King"), Adrian Scarborough (last seen in "Into the Storm").
RATING: 5 out of 10 sterilized instruments
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