DYING ROOM ONLY

Next time you pass a decrepit rest area, don't be surprised if you feel inclined to step on the gas.

Dying Room Only is one of those spare little movies that could just as easily take place on stage.  There aren't a lot of characters.  There aren't a lot of sets.   But the tension created in this microcosm of reality is enough to leave you in knots from beginning to end.

Jean (Cloris Leachman) and Bob Mitchell (Dabney Coleman) are on the last leg of a road trip when they stop at a godforsaken little diner in the middle of nowhere.  Neither is in a very good mood by this point.  Both are hot and tired, and there's still a long way to go before they hit home, but it seems like they may as well stop for a bite to eat and a restroom break while they have the chance.  After all, it could be miles before the opportunity presents itself again.

From the get-go, something seems off at this gross little establishment.  There's a greasy fat guy (Ned Beatty) hanging ominously around the pay phone, and it seems like no matter which way you turn, he's blocking your way.  The owner (Ross Martin) certainly isn't going to win any awards for customer service, but damnit, if sandwiches and beer are on the menu, there's no reason Bob and Jean shouldn't get theirs.

With growing disgust, Jean steps away from their table to visit the ladies room.  She brushes her hair and pats her face with a wet paper towel (an effort that literally takes about 45 seconds), and when she comes out, Bob is gone.  Like, really gone.  He's not in the men's room, he's not in the car, and nobody's talking.

From that point on, Jean is pretty much on her own.  The two men in the diner are impossible when they're not downright scary, and the woman who works in the adjacent motel (Louise Latham) is just as bad.  The local sheriff (Dana Elcar) seems nice enough, but even he's a little slow on the uptake.  After some ineffectual poking around, he suggests that Bob may have walked out on Jean and leaves her to fend for herself.

As annoyed as Bob may have been as they barreled down that empty desert highway, you, I, and Jean all know that there's no way he disappeared from that diner on his own volition.  Who vanishes completely in less than a minute?  More importantly, how do you lose a funny, surly badass like Dabney Coleman?  It's not like he'd be easy to misplace.

Though the county sheriff finally does come around, it's Jean who must rescue her husband and save the two of them from a gruesome fate.  For whatever reason, it seems that a vacancy at this motel truly does amount to Dying Room Only.  In the realm of road trip mishaps, this far surpasses the Rest Stop movies in both class and suspense.  Next time you pass a decrepit rest area, don't be surprised if you feel inclined to step on the gas.

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