Quick Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
JUNE 18, 2014

One will often hear that when their favorite artists come to town, everyone wants them to play the hits. Director Wes Anderson is content with playing the hits, delivering yet another truly unique comedy in “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. Like in the world of art and painting, one can tell a Wes Anderson from the rest of the artists without even seeing his name written at the bottom, simply by his familiar tones and a one of kind brushstroke that is undeniably distinct. The entire film is saturated in a grainy, elegant fervor all its own. The framing of the characters and the use of stop animation and miniatures for action sequences are also tell-tale signs of Anderson’s hands at work. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing the hits as long the resulting product is as good or better than the artist’s previous body of work and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is just that. Although I enjoyed the narrative of “Moonrise Kingdom” more and the humor of “Fantastic Mr. Fox” will always be my favorite, this latest endeavor is a close third in the ranking.

Anderson’s ensemble cast is one of the best-assembled, featuring Ralph Fiennes as the lead, M. Gustave, the manager of the Grand Budapest Hotel, in a role that truly should be remembered come Academy Award nominations. Like with “Moonrise Kingdom”, Anderson also proves his keen ability to successfully direct young actors, like with Tony Revolori, who plays a young bellhop and Gustave’s protégé and steals the show whenever on-screen. With some new faces added to the Wes Anderson world, like Saoirse Ronan, F. Murray Abraham, and Léa Seydoux, they are ultimately mixed with the familiar faces of Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, and even Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson, who show up in almost all of Anderson’s films. With a favorable cast and Anderson’s ability to great such a prolific world around them, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” has already become one of the best films of the year. And even though he has not one-upped himself or created his next brilliant masterpiece, Wes Anderson continues to be the out-of-the-box, genius auteur that we love him to be.

RELEASE DATE
March 7, 2014

DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson

WRITTEN BY
Wes Anderson
Hugo Guinness (story)

STUDIO
Fox Searchlight Pictures

R
(for language, some sexual content and violence)

ADVENTURE
COMEDY
CRIME
99 minutes