The Lost Room (2006)

Very cool and immensely entertaining Sci-Fi channel three-part miniseries.

Basic premise is that a hotel room got "lost" a few decades back and all of the personal possessions that were in the room at the time (pen, scissors, key, watch, bus ticket, etc.) are now highly collectible due to the varying degrees of power each acquired. The room key, for example, turns any locking door into a portal to the room itself...which will, in turn, open into a either a place you concentrate on or a random door, if you feel adventurous. Some objects are a little less useful (like the watch that will hard boil an egg), but all are pretty nifty and I could see getting into researching and trying to track them down if they existed.

Peter Krause is his usual laid-back self -- a perfect tour guide as he's learning everything for the first time just like we are. Since his daughter (woefully untalented Elle Fanning) disappeared into the room, his investigation has a tinge of panic to it, a level of intensity I thought hurt the story rather than helped it. I'd rather he had the time to "whoa, cool" a little more.

I thought this had the potential to be Harry Potter magical -- discovering the powers of seemingly normal objects and figuring out how to fit their uses to a purpose is unbelievably interesting and probably inexhaustible. This would be one heck of a series and I'm hoping that's the plan since there were quite a few loose ends left at the end of the third installment. Maybe, in episodic format, Krause could allow himself to enjoy the ride a bit more.

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