`HOTEL DE LOVE' ROMANTIC COMEDY ON THE DOWNSIDE : THE FACTS.

Byline: Henry Sheehan Orange County Register

An elbows-out romantic comedy in the line, though not in the league, of ``Muriel's Wedding,'' ``Hotel de Love'' strives a bit too strenuously to find low jinks in high romance.

Movies like this depend on massive infusions of bad taste, and here, it's built into the design of the principal setting. The title refers to a honeymoon resort with special fantasy suites decked out in the most outrageously configured evocations of middle-class sexual fantasy, from the usual jungle setting to, of all things, a locker room.

What's crucial is that such trappings, and their behavioral parallels, can be vulgar without being condescending. Luckily, ``Hotel de Love'' is an Australian film, and there's something in that country's temperament that loves a good joke at its own expense, particularly if it's the down-market variety. And so, the hoped-for atmosphere of matey vulgarity permeates the film and gives a sense of cheer, if not always a quotient of laughs.

The resort is run by a lovelorn young man named Rick (Aden Young), who has more or less been pining for the love of his life, who departed from it 10 years before. As it happens, his nonidentical twin brother, Stephen (Simon Bossell), has a crush on the same woman, the red-headed Melissa (Saffron Burrows). Stephen has it even worse than Rick, because not only does he insist there's a metaphysical component to his love, but he never had the physical liaison with Melissa that Stephen did.

Anyway, Stephen, a stockbroker, is at the Hotel de Love for a visit on the occasion of his bickering parents' cranky attempt at a second honeymoon, when Melissa makes a reappearance.

What follows is a series of would-be not-quite couplings set against the enforced romance of the Hotel de Love, which, as often as not, is a backdrop for unhappiness and panic and love and release. A second woman, Rick's put-upon assistant Alison (Pippa Grandison), pops into the action early on, which adds to the general havoc, if not always to the comedy.

That comedy generally comes at you hard and loud, even in putatively quieter moments when Stephen, who narrates, muses about love's fickle nature. For the most part, it's a question of people unexpectedly running into each other, sometimes quite literally. So it's not surprising that the movie comes across like some of its more unsuccessful suitors, always anxious to please, overdoing the humorous courting in a way that can be simultaneously tiring and appealing.

The film: ``Hotel de Love'' (R; sexual situations, language).

The stars: Aden Young, Saffron Burrows, Simon Bossell.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Craig Rosenberg. Produced by Michael Lake and David Parker.

Running time: One hour, 36 minutes.

Playing: Selected theaters.

Our rating: 3 stars