Across the Hall

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Devastating secrets come to light and a man is pushed to the murderous brink when he discovers his fiance is cheating on him in this tense, unpredictable thriller. .com ---- At first glance, Across the Hall has the look of one of those "stylish thrillers" with little substance below its glossy veneer. But there's more to this story, which director Alex Merkin and screenwriter Jesse Mittelstadt expanded from its original incarnation as a 2005 short film. Danny Pino costars as Terry, an insecure, short-fused guy who's convinced that his girlfriend, June (Brittany Murphy), is cheating on him--so convinced, in fact, that he has followed her to a funky hotel (one of those spooky places with few other guests and an oddball porter oozing portentous nuttiness) and booked the room across the hall from hers, where he stares through the peephole, armed with a and very bad intent. Jesse calls his best bud Julian (Mike Vogel) and confesses what he's up to, which sets in motion a series of plot twists, some fairly predictable (viewers good at such things will certainly see them coming) and some not at all. The action jumps around in terms of both time frame and point of view, but Merkin, who was also the editor, makes it all work. And while the film has its share of timeworn tricks and devices (including cell phones ringing in all the wrong places and the old "did he take the elevator or the stairs?" bit), not to mention a couple of overly convenient plot developments, Merkin handily maintains a kind of noirish tension throughout its tidy, 90-minute running time. Stylish indeed--but good, too. --Sam Graham