I’m a terrible person to watch movies with because I find it nearly impossible to suspend my disbelief. I get especially irritated my deux ex machina turns of events that are entirely implausible and serve only the plot.
Take, for instance, the ability of anyone: spy, person running from the government and/or secret evil group, random passerby, etc., to gain access to someone else’s hotel room. “I forgot my key” said to the maid, the front desk clerk, a hot chick in a bikini by the pool, is all it takes.
I found it highly unlikely that it was quite so easy and was always annoyed when the entire rest of the movie hinged on whatever happened in that room.
Until last weekend.
I headed out of my hotel room to grab some food and got nearly to the car when I realized I had no room key. Or, more specifically, I had no room key with me as it was sitting on the table just inside the locked room. I flashed back to all those irritating movies and walked over to the lobby to see exactly what happened when you claimed you were locked out of your room.
I figured they would just ask to see ID. That way, I could get into my room, but pesky spies could not. But what if I had just gone to get some ice and didn’t have my ID? Now that I actually needed into a room without a key, it all became more plausible. I started worrying for my non-existent self in a made up situation. I don’t ever even get ice when I stay in a hotel. It’s not like I walk into the room and think, hmm… this place is nice, but it’s missing something. If only I had some ice.
I wondered how the hotel clerk could tell the difference between an ice seeker and a spy. Especially if the spy grabbed some ice to make things look authentic.
I walked into the lobby and told the clerk that I locked myself out of my room. “Room number and last name?” I told her. She handed me a new key. No questions, no ID, just an all-access pass.
So, I take it all back. Not only could any spy and/or person on the run get into any hotel room, but they could easily get a key and come and go as they pleased for whatever long-term spy-like activies were necessary. I had no idea being spy-type person was so easy. I admit, it wasn’t super-suspenseful to gain access to my own room, but it could have been the room of the person send to assassinate me and I could have been looking for clues. I actually was just looking for lunch, but you know, hypothetically.