Stephen Dorff and Emile Hirsch Try to Escape ‘The Motel Life’ Through Storytelling

By  · Published on September 24th, 2013

While the premise of Gabe and Alan Polsky’s The Motel Life isn’t anything revolutionary – two attractive brothers (Stephen Dorff and Emile Hirsch) on the run from the law, struggling with whether or not they should own up to their misdeeds – the way in which their conflicts are framed is something to talk about.

Hirsch and Dorff star as brothers who grew up depending on each other for everything, including now, when Dorff is involved in a fatal car accident and needs that fact not to be known. In order to cope with this situation, and presumably many of the other hardships they’ve had to endure, the brothers spin their reality into the kinds of adventures you’d read about it little boys’ storybooks. They’re sailors of the sea and fighter pilots, not transients living out of motels trying to make it to the next week.

The stories are represented through animated sequences, shown in the trailer between grim shots of burning cars and bleak Reno, Nevada. What’s going to happen when they’re forced to face reality and snap out of their dream world? Or will they go down fighting on their imaginary ship? – I’d kind of like to see their take on an animated prison. Check out the trailer here:

The Motel Life is in theaters November 8th.