The
Grand Budapest Hotel
Loving a Wes Anderson film is an acquired taste, kind of like desiring
anchovies or stinky blue cheese. However, his latest film, The
Grand Budapest Hotel, is just as great as The Royal Tannenbaums
or The Fantastic Mr. Fox or anything else he has done. I guess
someone should pass me the anchovies.
Set in 1932, Ralph Fiennes stars as Monsieur Gustave - the greatest
hotel concierge in the history of hotels. He’s very good at his
job, and even better at making sure the lonely, elderly ladies who
travel to The Grand Budapest Hotel don’t stay lonely for too
long. Yep, he’s a playa!
When one of his lady friends passes away, Gustave heads off to the
funeral with his trusty lobby boy Zero (Tony Revolori). However, the
family of the deceased is not very happy this illicit lover has
inherited a valuable painting, and they challenge his claim to it,
which sets off a chase across Europe when Gustave hightails it out of
there, taking what he believes is rightfully his.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is a great, dry,
silly, over-the-top comedy that will have you laughing for days.
It’s a buddy comedy as we watch Gustave and Zero facing all sorts
of obstacles together as the younger man doesn’t quite know what
to make of it all, and the older gentleman reacts to everything with
relish and daring.
Revolori is perfect with his innocent wide eyes and deadpan reactions
to the silliness all around him, while Fiennes is on fire in one of the
best roles of his career. He’s suave. He’s cultured, but
also makes the most of the moments when he lets Gustave lower his
veneer of class to reveal his true, profane nature, which are always
the moments that have you laughing the hardest.
Most of all, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a Wes Anderson movie
in every way shape and form, which should have you running to buy a
ticket. On the surface, it looks like a bunch of people with bad
hairdos, silly mustaches and horrendous wardrobe, but, as the movie
progresses you realize all of the superficial things lead the movie to
become quirky, zany and full of outrageous characters played by some of
the best actors in the business. C’mon! We’re talking about
Bill Murray, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Tilda Swinton, Ed Norton and
Willem Dafoe.
How could you go wrong?
The Grand Budapest Hotel is rated R for
language, some sexual content and violence.
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