The Hotel New Hampshire (film)

The Hotel New Hampshire is a 1984 comedy-drama film written and directed by Tony Richardson based on John Irving's 1981 novel. A co-production from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, it stars Jodie Foster, Beau Bridges, Rob Lowe, Nastassja Kinski, also featuring Wilford Brimley, Amanda Plummer, Matthew Modine, and 10-year-old Seth Green in his film debut. The film follows the Berry family that weathers all sorts of disasters and keeps going in spite of it all.

In an introductory foreword that he wrote for a later edition of the novel, author Irving stated that he was thrilled when Richardson informed him that he wanted to adapt the book to the screen. Irving wrote that he was very happy with the adaptation, complaining only that he felt Richardson tried to make the film too faithful to the book, noting the manner in which Richardson would often speed up the action in an attempt to include more material onscreen.

Noted for its assortment of oddball characters, The Hotel New Hampshire was theatrically released by Orion Pictures on March 9, 1984. Although a box office failure grossing $5.1 million against its $5.5 million budget, it has been praised by the critics, particularly for its screenplay, performances, and faithful adaptation.

Richardson wrote in his posthumously published memoirs, "All a creator can feel about the past, I think, is a more or less generalized affection. And purely on that level I’ve never loved any movie more than The Hotel New Hampshire."