Hotel Chevalier 2007

In a hotel lobby, the concierge answers a phone call from a guest’s room. Jason Schwartzman lies on a hotel bed in a yellow bathrobe, absorbing a black-and-white wartime film, Stalag 17, while flicking through the newspaper. After placing a room-service order in broken French, he receives a call from Rhett, his ex-girlfriend. She says she’s on her way from the airport and asks for his room number. Despite insisting he never invited her to come, he agrees. He hurriedly tries to tidy the space, pausing to replay the opening bars of the song Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)? by Peter Sarstedt on the stereo, and then he runs a bath.

He is next shown again on the bed, this time in a gray suit. A knock at the door interrupts his playlist, and he restarts the song before opening the door to Rhett, the ex who has traveled to his doorstep. Natalie Portman enters, and after a moment of silence she asks what music is playing. Rhett steps inside, looking around the room as she greets him with a bouquet of flowers. She moves around, even brushing her teeth with his toothbrush, and declines the bath he had prepared for her.

Back in the bedroom, Rhett faces him and the tension breaks with a blunt question: > what the fuck is going on?

Jack explains that he has been living in the hotel room for “more than a month,” choosing distance to escape their relationship. The two lie back on the bed, exchanging glances, before the arrival of room service interrupts their moment. Once alone again, they share a kiss, and Jack begins to undress Rhett. They have an uneasy conversation about past fidelity, and when Jack notices bruises on her arm, Rhett chooses not to comment on them. Lying on top of him, she confesses that she doesn’t want to lose his friendship, that she loves him, and never meant to hurt him. He responds coldly that he “will never be [her] friend,” but he still holds her as she embraces him.

As the music restarts, Jack offers to show Rhett his view of Paris, and she leans against an armoire. He covers her naked body with the yellow bathrobe, and they move toward the balcony. On the balcony, he retrieves a toothpick from his pocket and hands it to her with a quiet nod, which she mirrors. After a few more seconds of quiet looking out, she clasps his neck lightly, and they step back inside together.