The Grand Budapest Hotel, the new film by Wes Anderson is certainly one of the most unique films that moviegoers will have the chance to experience in 2014. The director, whose previous credits include delightful films like The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom, takes another step on his journey as a filmmaker to bring a movie that’s as serious as it is wacky, and a really enjoyable film to boot.
The film starts off in the 1980s with a little girl reading a book titled The Grand Budapest Hotel, which flashes us back to the 1960s to when The Author meets Zero Mustafa, the owner of the hotel that has fallen on hard times. Over dinner Zero recounts the story of how he came to own the place. We then move back to 1932 where Zero, a newly appointed lobby boy, begins working under Mr. Gustave, the hard working old lady romancing concierge. When one of the women whom he loves, Madame D, dies under mysterious circumstances, Mr. Gustave and Zero find themselves pulled into a battle with the family over the portrait A Boy With Apple. Set against the rise of fascism and war, Zero grows up and learns the meaning of friendship, love and how to live.
Technically, The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of the more impressive films of 2014. Wes Anderson’s films always have wonderful art direction and camera work, but this film saw the director take another step up. From the wonderful set design to the cinematography, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a movie made by a director and creative team that know exactly what they are doing and it’s wonderful to take in a film with such eye candy. I especially like the composition and movement during the scenes set in the hotel lobby.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a movie that excels visually yet doesn’t forget that the story is king. The movie is a wonderful mix of pastiche and seriousness, which requires a story that is tight and to the point. I’ve come to know Wes Anderson for his quirkiness, and there’s plenty on display in The Grand Budapest Hotel, but the movie contains some serious subject matter. Anderson uses a lot of screenwriting conventions, especially with the fake out of one character’s death, that really give the film some added wait.
In my opinion however, Anderson’s script doesn’t really find it’s footing with regards to the movie’s tone. Though the movie does an admirable job of trying to balance the many competing forces, there were dramatic moments I felt were undercut by comedy or comedic beats undercut by the drama too often for my liking. Especially with Adrian Brody and Edward Norton enter the picture, their presences seek to underscore the harsher elements but they are so bufoonish and too recognizable to work in this film.
But luckily Tony Revolori and Ralph Fiennes are there to put the movie on their capable shoulders and keep the film rolling. The performances given by these two manage to be physical and mental, comedic and dramatic at the same time and make The Grand Budapest Hotel more than a pleasant watch.
Grade: ***/**** (B)