Niagara Motel review

The dilapidated Niagara Motel is the temporary home to a collection of desperate disparates all battling personal demons rather than enjoying the fantastic Falls. There’s a morbid janitor (Craig Ferguson) mourning his dead wife, an ex-druggie mum (Anna Friel) hoping to get her baby back from social services, a bankrupt couple and a preggers waitress (Caroline Dhavernas) resisting a seedy porn director (Kevin Pollak). Adapted from a Canadian stage show, this is a misfiring mix of stagey dialogue, broad, unamusing comedy and irksome stereotypes. Self-consciously quirky music, kitschy production values and a near hysterical atmosphere jostle to raise a smile but the only character to elicit a modicum of interest is Friel’s bra-less waif. She turns in an assuredly wounded, yet stroppy performance that trades on her ballsy charm.