Reel Opinions


Sunday, April 06, 2014

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Filled with his intricate and surreal settings, as well as his trademark low key absurd humor, there is no doubt that The Grand Budapest Hotel is the work of Wes Anderson, a highly polarizing director whom his fans (of which I am one) deem wonderful, while his detractors find distracting and lacking human emotion.  As a fan, I enjoyed much of the film, but wouldn't put it alongside some of his best entries like Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Rushmore.  It offers plenty of laughs and a unique narrative structure, but it did not linger as strongly afterward as his best films have.

As the film opens, a young woman stands in a cemetery, holding a book written by an author, whose grave she is standing before.  We then cut to the 1980s, where that author (Tom Wilkinson) is discussing the art of writing and storytelling to the camera, and begins to share how one of his stories was inspired by a real life event.  We then flashback once more, to the 1960s, where we enter the mostly-abandoned Grand Budapest Hotel, a place which was once the pride of the fictional European Republic of Zubrowka. but is now a shadow of its former glory.  One of its few guests just happens to be a younger version of the author (now played by Jude Law).  Here, we see how the author encountered and struck up a friendship with the owner of the hotel, Mr. Mustafa (F. Murray Abraham).  As the two share dinner together in the hotel restaurant, Mr. Mustafa's story (the same that the author would write about some 20 years later) unfolds, and takes us back to the 1930s, where the main storyline occurs.

In this storyline, Europe is on the brink of war due to a fascist government taking control.  However, within the walls of the Grand Budapest Hotel, Zubrowka's premier luxury resort, everything is impeccable due to the efforts of its head concierge, M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his assistant "Lobby Boy", Zero Mustafa (Tony Revolori).  One of Gustave's primary joys in his job is bedding the elderly and wealthy women who frequent as guests.  When one of his regulars (Tilda Swinton, still recognizable, but hidden under an incredible make up job) dies, she leaves a valuable painting in Gustav's name.  This angers the old lady's heirs, particularly her son Dmitri (Adrian Brody), who seeks to get it back with the aid of a psychotic madman (Willem Dafoe), who is always at his side.  Meanwhile, Gustave is framed for the murder of the old woman, and is sent to a prison camp.  His efforts to escape, as well as find a missing copy of the old lady's second will (which could put a damper on Dmitri's inheritance plans) makes up the bulk of this plot.

As usual, Wes Anderson fills his film with a diverse cast, many of whom are actors who have appeared in his past films, such as Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson and Edward Norton to name a few.   But it is the main newcomer to Anderson's world, Ralph Fiennes, who leaves the biggest impression.  Not only is this a rare comedic role for the actor, he's positively charming portraying the well-mannered, strongly perfumed and gentlemanly M. Gustave.  And yet, in some of the film's funniest moments, he will drop his distinguished act, and let loose a string of profanity if he is angry or threatened.  The relationship he builds with young Zero also has some oddly sweet moments, and Fiennes really just throws himself into this completely original and endearing character he's been given.  He not only gives the strongest and funniest performance in the film, he's almost reason enough to see the film.

Fortunately, The Grand Budapest Hotel holds many other charms outside of its lead performance.  While not his funniest film, the movie still has a number of laugh out loud moments, such as the way Anderson pokes fun at prison escape dramas during the sequences Gustave is behind bars, or the hilariously low tech chase scene that occurs down a ski slope.  There are a lot of intentionally whimsical moments where we know that what we are looking at are elaborate models or tiny toy figures, but these moments only add to the charm of Wes Anderson's bizarre yet beautiful world.  As with all of his films, the visuals have been beautifully crafted, and look like nothing else on the screen.  It really is a shame that the films he makes end up being so polarizing to audiences and critics.  I would love to see this kind of skill and craft be accepted by a wide audience.

If you are not a fan of Wes Anderson, I do not see this film converting you or changing your mind.  If you are, you'll likely enjoy it, but find it a fairly minor effort that moves by quickly enough and has some big laughs, but not as much as some of his past films.  Still, with the way Wes Anderson works so far outside of the norm with his humor, narrative and visual style, the arrival of one of his films is always a reason to be excited, and The Grand Budapest Hotel is no exception.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006
06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006
08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007
08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007
09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007
10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007
12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008
01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008
04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008
05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008
06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008
07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008
08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008
09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008
10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008
11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008
12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009
01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009
02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009
03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009
04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009
05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009
06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009
07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009
08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009
09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009
10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009
11/01/2009 - 12/01/2009
12/01/2009 - 01/01/2010
01/01/2010 - 02/01/2010
02/01/2010 - 03/01/2010
03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010
04/01/2010 - 05/01/2010
05/01/2010 - 06/01/2010
06/01/2010 - 07/01/2010
07/01/2010 - 08/01/2010
08/01/2010 - 09/01/2010
09/01/2010 - 10/01/2010
10/01/2010 - 11/01/2010
11/01/2010 - 12/01/2010
12/01/2010 - 01/01/2011
01/01/2011 - 02/01/2011
02/01/2011 - 03/01/2011
03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011
04/01/2011 - 05/01/2011
05/01/2011 - 06/01/2011
06/01/2011 - 07/01/2011
07/01/2011 - 08/01/2011
08/01/2011 - 09/01/2011
09/01/2011 - 10/01/2011
10/01/2011 - 11/01/2011
11/01/2011 - 12/01/2011
12/01/2011 - 01/01/2012
01/01/2012 - 02/01/2012
02/01/2012 - 03/01/2012
03/01/2012 - 04/01/2012
04/01/2012 - 05/01/2012
05/01/2012 - 06/01/2012
06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012
07/01/2012 - 08/01/2012
08/01/2012 - 09/01/2012
09/01/2012 - 10/01/2012
10/01/2012 - 11/01/2012
11/01/2012 - 12/01/2012
12/01/2012 - 01/01/2013
01/01/2013 - 02/01/2013
02/01/2013 - 03/01/2013
03/01/2013 - 04/01/2013
04/01/2013 - 05/01/2013
05/01/2013 - 06/01/2013
06/01/2013 - 07/01/2013
07/01/2013 - 08/01/2013
08/01/2013 - 09/01/2013
09/01/2013 - 10/01/2013
10/01/2013 - 11/01/2013
11/01/2013 - 12/01/2013
12/01/2013 - 01/01/2014
01/01/2014 - 02/01/2014
02/01/2014 - 03/01/2014
03/01/2014 - 04/01/2014
04/01/2014 - 05/01/2014
05/01/2014 - 06/01/2014
06/01/2014 - 07/01/2014
07/01/2014 - 08/01/2014
08/01/2014 - 09/01/2014
09/01/2014 - 10/01/2014
10/01/2014 - 11/01/2014
11/01/2014 - 12/01/2014
12/01/2014 - 01/01/2015
01/01/2015 - 02/01/2015
02/01/2015 - 03/01/2015
03/01/2015 - 04/01/2015
04/01/2015 - 05/01/2015
05/01/2015 - 06/01/2015
06/01/2015 - 07/01/2015
07/01/2015 - 08/01/2015
08/01/2015 - 09/01/2015
09/01/2015 - 10/01/2015
10/01/2015 - 11/01/2015
11/01/2015 - 12/01/2015
12/01/2015 - 01/01/2016
01/01/2016 - 02/01/2016
02/01/2016 - 03/01/2016
03/01/2016 - 04/01/2016
04/01/2016 - 05/01/2016
05/01/2016 - 06/01/2016
06/01/2016 - 07/01/2016
07/01/2016 - 08/01/2016
08/01/2016 - 09/01/2016
09/01/2016 - 10/01/2016
10/01/2016 - 11/01/2016
11/01/2016 - 12/01/2016
12/01/2016 - 01/01/2017
01/01/2017 - 02/01/2017
02/01/2017 - 03/01/2017
03/01/2017 - 04/01/2017
04/01/2017 - 05/01/2017
05/01/2017 - 06/01/2017
06/01/2017 - 07/01/2017
07/01/2017 - 08/01/2017
08/01/2017 - 09/01/2017
09/01/2017 - 10/01/2017
10/01/2017 - 11/01/2017
11/01/2017 - 12/01/2017
12/01/2017 - 01/01/2018
01/01/2018 - 02/01/2018
02/01/2018 - 03/01/2018
03/01/2018 - 04/01/2018
04/01/2018 - 05/01/2018
05/01/2018 - 06/01/2018
06/01/2018 - 07/01/2018
07/01/2018 - 08/01/2018
08/01/2018 - 09/01/2018
09/01/2018 - 10/01/2018
10/01/2018 - 11/01/2018
11/01/2018 - 12/01/2018
12/01/2018 - 01/01/2019
01/01/2019 - 02/01/2019
02/01/2019 - 03/01/2019
03/01/2019 - 04/01/2019
04/01/2019 - 05/01/2019
05/01/2019 - 06/01/2019
06/01/2019 - 07/01/2019
07/01/2019 - 08/01/2019
08/01/2019 - 09/01/2019
09/01/2019 - 10/01/2019
10/01/2019 - 11/01/2019
11/01/2019 - 12/01/2019
12/01/2019 - 01/01/2020
01/01/2020 - 02/01/2020
02/01/2020 - 03/01/2020
03/01/2020 - 04/01/2020
04/01/2020 - 05/01/2020
05/01/2020 - 06/01/2020
06/01/2020 - 07/01/2020
07/01/2020 - 08/01/2020
08/01/2020 - 09/01/2020
09/01/2020 - 10/01/2020
10/01/2020 - 11/01/2020
11/01/2020 - 12/01/2020
12/01/2020 - 01/01/2021
02/01/2021 - 03/01/2021
03/01/2021 - 04/01/2021
04/01/2021 - 05/01/2021
05/01/2021 - 06/01/2021
06/01/2021 - 07/01/2021
07/01/2021 - 08/01/2021
08/01/2021 - 09/01/2021
09/01/2021 - 10/01/2021
10/01/2021 - 11/01/2021
11/01/2021 - 12/01/2021
12/01/2021 - 01/01/2022
01/01/2022 - 02/01/2022
02/01/2022 - 03/01/2022
03/01/2022 - 04/01/2022
04/01/2022 - 05/01/2022
05/01/2022 - 06/01/2022
06/01/2022 - 07/01/2022
07/01/2022 - 08/01/2022
08/01/2022 - 09/01/2022
09/01/2022 - 10/01/2022
10/01/2022 - 11/01/2022
11/01/2022 - 12/01/2022
12/01/2022 - 01/01/2023
01/01/2023 - 02/01/2023
02/01/2023 - 03/01/2023
03/01/2023 - 04/01/2023
04/01/2023 - 05/01/2023
05/01/2023 - 06/01/2023

Powered by Blogger