The Grand Budapest Hotel Review

3.0 Stars

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest creation from comedic genius Wes Anderson.  Anderson is also responsible for giving us the quirky and brilliantly written Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Rushmore.  Anderson is up for 3 Oscars this year for The Grand Budapest Hotel: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing.  Anderson was nominated for Best Writing for Moonrise Kingdom, Best Animated Feature Film for Fantastic Mr. Fox and for Best Writing for The Royal Tenenbaums, though he has yet to win an Oscar.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the story of a famous concierge named M. Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) at a luxurious hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka and takes place between the first and second World Wars.  It is also the story of his protege Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the Lobby Boy who eventually took over the hotel.

Anderson has assembled some of his band of merry men that you would see in many of his films: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman.  And, like many of his films, some of Hollywood's best talent have come out to take part in the merriment: F. Murray Abraham, Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Edward Norton to name a few.  Another common trait of an Anderson masterpiece is to take what would normally be a dramatic topic and turn it on it's head with some smart and well-written comedy.  He's already tackled grief, loss, abandonment, sibling rivalry and other hard-hitting themes.  In The Grand Budapest Hotel, he adds murder to the list.

The preview is a very accurate representation of what you get in the full movie.  Even if you didn't see the preview, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect if you have seen any other Wes Anderson movie.  The dialogue is fantastic.  The settings are gorgeous.  The characters are ridiculous but somehow believable.  The story is actually about the Lobby Boy Zero (Tony Revolori and F. Murray Abraham) who comes to own The Grand Budapest Hotel and how he was mentored by the best concierge in the business, M. Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes).  Gustave is the most accommodating concierge around, especially to older, blonde, wealthy women who return regularly for his . . . services, to put it delicately.  One of his regulars was murdered and Gustave is their primary suspect.  This movie has everything: it's a love story, it's a murder mystery, it's a prison escape, and it's hilarious.  However, I'm giving it 3.0 stars.  I thought it worth the money in the theatres.  I'll probably watch it again when it's on TV, but it most likely won't make it to my home collection and I don't see this winning Best Picture.  Perhaps for Best Original Screenplay, but not Best Picture.  So, what Oscar-nominated movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.