Movies: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Score:  *** out of ***** (C+)

Long Story Short:  One of the most critically-praised films of the year is starting to find its way into non-urban America.  Cult-favorite director Wes Anderson's latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is a sort of thriller with the usual stylistic flair of its filmmaker.  Fiennes is great as the main character, with many Anderson regulars flanking him.  However, Anderson's style is simply a poor fit for the story here, overwhelming any of the individually positive elements.


I had given up on my local rural theater ever getting this indie film, but, over a month after its U.S. debut, it arrived!  I'm glad to have some contrasts in the genres of the films I see, with Captain America the week before and probably Noah to come after.  In other news, the NBA Playoffs start this weekend; while I didn't follow the league closely enough to come up with a preview, I'll definitely do a post at the end and perhaps one or two along the way.  As for Grand Budapest Hotel, I was intrigued since I enjoyed 2012's Moonrise Kingdom by the same director.  With phenomenal reviews, I just hoped that it would come to my area which it eventually did.  The Grand Budapest Hotel was directed by Wes Anderson and stars Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Edward Norton, et. al.

After a series of clips through time - linking this story to the present and several other years - we are brought to the Grand Budapest, the pride of made-up European nation Zubrowka.  Set in the 1930s, the Grand Budapest is a bustling place, led by its charming professional concierge, Gustave (Fiennes).  While he goes about his duties - including unofficial ones involving wealthy older women - Gustave begins training a new lobby boy, Zero (Revolori), whose name describes what he comes to the hotel with in experience and background.  Zero goes with Gustave to the funeral of one of the hotel's regulars, Madame D (Swinton), who passes away suddenly.

Here the trouble begins:  Madame D leaves a valuable possession to Gustave, infuriating her son.  As war descends on the nation, Gustave and Zero find themselves pursued by a more intimate set of enemies as they try to discover what's really going on - and get themselves out of trouble.

The Grand Budapest has a fine cast with many Wes Anderson "regulars" acting in the quirky way that is found in Moonrise Kingdom (and probably Anderson's other films, too).  Fiennes plays the main character, Gustave.  While he commands attention and is fascinating to watch, it was hard for me to get a read on the character.  Perhaps the contradictions are intended, but he is both professional and crude, gentlemanly and flirtatious.  Despite being fun to watch, there is little emotional impact to what happens to him as he is more a set of characteristics than a single, believable person.  The young Zero, played by Revolori, isn't as exciting but is more believable and relatable.  The few moments focused on him are some of the film's strongest, but mostly he is just along for the ride.

There are plenty more characters (and big-name actors) in the film; I'll touch on just a few more.  Edward Norton plays a military commander; he fits himself to Anderson's style well, and I like him a lot in both Moonrise and Grand Budapest.  He has some of the funniest lines, but sadly has a very small part.  Jeff Goldblum is a pleasantly surprising presence here.  Another small part, he sticks in my mind (other than the fact that he's Jeff Goldblum) for his funny lawyer stuff.  Willem Dafoe plays a scary villain (shock!), and Adrien Brody the whiny, furious son of Madame D.  Most of the other parts are essentially cameos, including Bill Murray.

Before anything else, I should say that I am by no means an expert on Wes Anderson.  I saw and enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom.  Other than that, I saw Rushmore when I was young and stopped watching from extreme boredom.  Even from just two films, though, it's obvious that Anderson has a distinct style:  in the visuals, tone, and dialogue (and probably other parts) of his films.  I do not love nor do I hate this style; however, I think that this special style is better suited for certain types of stories and characters than for others.  Grand Budapest Hotel is, basically, a "buddy thriller" in which you have the odd pair of Gustave and Zero being framed (and chased) for a crime.  To put it simply, I do not think this was a good choice for Anderson's style, which is the main reason for the score I gave it.  There are also supposedly "layers" in this movie, with the aforementioned introductions.  However, this doesn't amount to anything in my opinion and it's actually kind of good that they didn't try (although one might ask then why Anderson attached it to the beginning and the end at all...).

***

The Grand Budapest Hotel has received glowing reviews from most major national film critics.  Perhaps I am not cultured and/or sophisticated enough to appreciate what the film offers, but I disagree with them significantly.  The major issue begins, as I just noted, with the story's ill fit with Wes Anderson's style - the most pertinent characteristics being silly, meandering and underlying subtle (sorry for the grammar; not sure how else to put it!).  Those elements aren't bad in and of themselves - in fact, they were ideally suited for Moonrise Kingdom.  However, put them into this story and it just feels bizarre; the emPHAsis is on the wrong syLLAbles you might say.  Most of the performances are good or great (Fiennes is likely an Oscar nominee), the sets and visuals are fun, it has good humor - but as a whole, it's just one big mess.  And the ill-fitting style causes some scenes to just drag on, making the fairly short runtime (1 hour 40 minutes) seem considerably longer.  Whereas a film like the Muppets was pretty obviously a "B" (give or take half a grade), Grand Budapest Hotel likely varies much more wildly depending on the individual and even your mood.  For me, though, the enjoyability of its specific elements doesn't nearly make up for the faults of the overall experience.