It’s not every day that I’m tempted into seeing a movie just from a trailer. It’s even rarer when it’s for a movie that doesn’t fall into my normal viewing patterns. So when The Grand Budapest Hotel caught my eye, I was vaguely surprised at my own interest in the film. From the preview, it looked like a light comedy without a cumbersome plot, just the kind of movie I was in the mood for. And the movie definitely did not disappoint.
In brief, the movie revolves the misadventures of Gustave H, played by Ralph Fiennes, a legendary concierge at the eponymous hotel, and his sidekick/protege Zero Moustafa. The shenanigans start when Gustave is bequeathed an amazingly valuable painting by one of his loyal guests/lovers, much to the chagrin of the lady’s other heirs. Antics ensue.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the story. Like I said before, this was not a particularly deep movie that required a great deal of concentration to follow. The humor was slightly absurdist, which is apparently a hallmark of director Wes Anderson, and possibly a bit immature, but I didn’t mind. Again, we’re not talking particularly highbrow chuckles here. There’s physical humor, raunchy jokes, and callbacks to earlier moments throughout the film. I don’t think I guffawed or anything throughout the film, but there was definitely a smile on my face for most of it. There was the occasional shocking or surprisingly violent moment in the movie, but I don’t think these detracted too much from the movie’s overall lighthearted tone.
Part of the reason the movie initially attracted me was its huge cast. Aside from Ralph, we’ve got a slew of other big names from Hollywood: Jude Law, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, and Tilda Swinton, just to name a small portion of them. The thing is, most of them weren’t really acting. Edward Norton, for example, is supposed to be a German police official, but he doesn’t bother to try and put on a German accent. None of them do (aside from the actually European actors, of course). And that adds to the absurdity of the movie as a whole, I feel. The entire thing is all slightly surreal because of this, which I think was very appropriate for the film.
I felt the music chosen for the movie was very fitting. It helped establish the atmosphere for the film, without ever becoming noticeable or intrusive. And of course, there were no pop star numbers shoe-horned in to appeal the younger demographic, so that’s always nice.
As for cinematography and directing…well, I must admit that I don’t tend to pay special attention to that. For me, these things should meld seamlessly into the making of a movie, without becoming obvious at any time. I should never stop and think “I wonder why they used that camera angle for that shot,” or “Why did the director leave this scene in?” It ruins the immersion, and if I find myself thinking along those lines, it means something has gone wrong during production. I will also say here that the director of a movie generally doesn’t play any part in my choice to see a given film; I had no idea this was a Wes Anderson film before someone mentioned it to me after the fact. Plus, I’ve never seen any of his previous films before, so I can’t comment on how this latest one compares with them.
Overall, I found The Grand Budapest Hotel to be an enjoyable, light movie. Would I recommend it? Certainly. Would I watch it again? In theaters, no. I won’t buy the DVD. But if it’s showing on TV, I’d stop flipping through the channels when I saw it.
Grade: B+
Photos from Rotten Tomatoes’ page for the movie
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